When The Dream Ends
by zephyran
Summary: COMPLETED! Epilogue added. Sin has been defeated, but Tidus' story is not over. As he faces a harsh new reality, he must ask himself: was he the dream, or was everything else? Rated for mild language, violence, and some suggestive content.
1. Prologue

Prologue 

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X and all characters and locations therein are owned by SquareSoft. This work is not sponsored or authorized by SquareSoft, and the author is making no money for having written it.

  
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Tidus stared at Yuna across the airship's deck. He didn't want to leave, but he also knew that there was nothing he could do to stop it. Without the fayth to dream, he would become nothing; he had no place in existence. Yet the fact that he was fading away was not the cause of his despair. It came from seeing the anguish in Yuna's eyes as she watched him slowly disappear.

He could see Yuna's lip tremble as she tried to contain the grief she felt inside. She was staring into his eyes, silently begging him to say there was some way, any way, that he could stay. They had grown so close since they'd first met in Besaid. He didn't want to lose her, and he knew she didn't want to lose him. Unfortunately for them both, they had no say in the matter. 

_It wasn't that long ago that we met,_ he thought. _I used to want nothing more than to get back to my Zanarkand, but now…I just wish I could stay in Spira forever._ He sighed. _Looks like I won't get that chance. My story's ending here._

Yuna launched herself at him, desperately trying to keep him from leaving her life. He opened his arms, praying for one last chance to hold her. However, he was only half surprised when Yuna passed right through him and collapsed onto the deck behind him. 

As his other friends gasped, Tidus looked down at the pyreflies that were beginning to fly away from his body. He cursed inwardly at how unfair fate was. He'd lost the father he'd always hated, then the mentor he'd never really understood. Now, he was going to lose the woman he'd fallen in love with, yet had never told. He could not bear to turn around and see her lying face down on the metal deck. He knew he wasn't imagining hearing her sobs over the rushing air currents. The one thing he'd sworn to himself he'd never do was hurt her.

He heard a rustle behind him, and assumed Yuna had finally stood up. He couldn't even bring himself to look. He so urgently wanted to run to her, to tell her that the fayth was wrong, and that he could stay with her forever. They'd be able to do all those things he once said they'd do after they beat Sin. But, deep in his heart, he knew none of that would happen now.

_We found a way to save Yuna's life, but we couldn't save mine,_ he thought. Although he felt true fear at the loss of his own life, Tidus took some solace in the fact that, given the choice, he was able to take her place as the human sacrifice for Spira's new Calm.

"Tidus," came Yuna's quiet voice. "I love you."

Tidus squeezed his eyes shut, bitter tears flowing out of them. _Yuna. I…I love you too…_ The words flowed out of his mind, but he found he couldn't make his voice work to say them out loud. In surprise, he turned around to find himself facing Yuna's back. As he did so, he saw swirls of light dance around his skin, as his hands started to become transparent. _I'm almost gone,_ he realized. _Not much time left._

Tidus walked up to Yuna and stood so close behind her that he should have been able to feel her warmth against his partially exposed chest. Yet…he felt nothing. His senses were beginning to grow numb.

In his last tender gesture, Tidus wrapped his arms around her, miming an embrace for a moment. He tried to brush his cheek against her silken brown hair, and instead felt nothing but air. He closed his eyes, sighed, and then stepped right through her.

Once he was a few paces ahead of the young summoner, he glanced back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lulu, Kimahri, and Wakka staring at him in disbelief. Rikku was jumping and waving at him, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. As cold as it seemed, he didn't really care anymore. Yuna looked up at him one last time, and he watched a tear fall from her cheek onto the airship deck.

_I'm not going to put them through the pain of watching me fade away,_ he decided. Tidus took a deep breath, and ran with all his might toward the bow of the ship. With a final silent goodbye, he leapt off the deck and dove headfirst into the amber clouds below. 

He'd expected to feel the sickening sensation of his innards pushing themselves toward his hips as he accelerated downward. Instead, he felt as if he were floating tranquilly, and that the sky was only a giant image that was speeding past him.

When he reached the inside of the clouds, all features of the world around him faded into a solid gray. _So this is what it's like to become nothing,_ he thought. 

_Yuna, don't forget me._

He fell for a few more seconds, before finally seeing a figure standing in the distance. His descent seemed to be slowing, although with the featureless air surrounding him, he could not tell for sure. He squinted his eyes, and then opened them wide when the person's features became more distinct. 

Tidus had never met the man, but could recognize him from the sphere recordings Auron had left behind. His well-oversized robe and headgear had once looked almost comical to Tidus, but he knew the man wearing them deserved his total respect. 

_Braska. Yuna's father? But he's…in the Farplane, right?_

Braska smiled at him and nodded in what looked to Tidus as a grateful gesture. The blitzer immediately understood Braska's sentiment, and smiled back. _I saved his daughter from having to sacrifice herself. He never wanted the summoner's life for her._

As he passed by Braska, he saw another figure, one that he had met firsthand. He wore a large red kimono with a tall collar that always seemed to stay up over the bottom half of his face. His red glasses partially hid one good eye, and one scarred, closed eyelid.

_Auron? This is the Farplane then, isn't it? Does that mean that I was…real?_

Auron nodded with acknowledgement at his protégé, but said nothing. Tidus smiled at him as he floated past the man that had watched over him all those years.

Tidus' next sight nearly made his heart stop.

_Dad?_

Before him floated the man that Tidus had hated all his life. Yet, in absentia, that man had driven him to pursue his full potential in everything he had done. Not only in blitzball, but in his duties as a guardian to Yuna.

Jecht, the bearded, dark-skinned, longhaired star blitzball player, was in the Farplane.

Tidus' hope began to grow. _If he's here, and he was a fayth dream, then maybe I'm real, too! Maybe...somehow, I can see Yuna again! If she visits the Farplane, that is._

As Tidus neared his father, Jecht held out his right hand. In his newfound excitement, Tidus brought up his hand and slapped his father's palm. It was a blitzer's signal of victory.

"Never thought I'd say this, but it's good to see you," Tidus said. He found that his descent had stopped, and he was floating freely directly in front of Jecht.

Jecht smirked at him with his usual bravado. "Yeah, well, don't get all mushy on me yet, kid, 'cause yer not stayin' for very long." Jecht crossed his arms, but somehow, he looked a lot less threatening that Tidus had ever remembered him. The older man put his feet down, and seemed to be standing in mid-air, just as Braska and Auron had been.

"Wha…whaddaya mean?" said Tidus. 

"Your work isn't done yet, Tidus," came Auron's voice. Tidus spun around in the air to see Auron walking toward him. Auron scratched the hand that hung out of the front of his kimono, and then pushed up his glasses.

"What work? Aren't I dead, or something?" Tidus shook his head, still in mild shock that he continued to exist.

"You'll find out what we mean soon enough. We can tell you no more now," said Braska, approaching from behind Auron. "Just one thing, please…never forget Yuna. She will need you to be with her. You must find a way."

Tidus tried to read their expressions, but couldn't tell if they were of sadness or grim determination. He spun back around to look at Jecht. "What are you all talking about? Am I going back?"

"You'll find out. See ya around, kid," said Jecht. "Better not be too soon, though, ya hear?" Jecht roughly grabbed Tidus' shoulders and pushed him downward. Tidus gasped as he was quickly propelled away from the three men. He watched as they vanished into the gray fog, and then suddenly everything around him turned bright white. He shut his eyes against the glare.

He fell for what seemed like hours, through the silence of nothingness. As he plummeted downward, he asked himself, _What's happening to me?_ He opened his eyes slowly and allowed them to adjust to the brightness.

In frustration, he screamed out, "Where am I? What's happening to me? Can anyone hear?"

_This can't be the end. If I'm not dead, and I haven't disappeared, then I've gotta be _somewhere_. But where the hell am I? _

As he continued to descend, he heard a shrill sound in the distance. It almost sounded like…a whistle.

He remembered the time he'd tried to teach Yuna to whistle, just before they'd first arrived in Luca. She'd eventually figured it out, with a bit of practice. 

_"Hey, use that if we get separated. Then I'll come running, okay?" _

The words he'd spoken to Yuna from the dock at Luca returned to him in a flash of memory. He'd promised to only be a whistle's distance away. By the time they'd escaped Bevelle, she'd learned pretty well. _Wasn't all that long ago. We only were on the pilgrimage for…_

He heard the whistle again. It wasn't perfect, as if it were coming from someone that had just barely learned how. _That _is_ Yuna. Gotta be!_

He tried to shout back to her, but all that came was a dull groan. _What the…? What's happening?_ Abruptly, he felt his body grow numb. He tried to turn his neck, but felt a sharp jolt of pain on the side of his head. Caught by surprise, he shrieked out.

*   


"Hey, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, it came from down there!"

"Get the Double-EJ over here now!"

Tidus opened his eyes weakly, but could see nothing in the darkness. His entire body was numb, his mouth was dry, and his head hurt. He tried to move, but his limbs were immobile, as if they were trapped. What little movement he had managed sent waves of searing pain throughout his body, and he again yelped out. The shouting burned his throat, as if he hadn't used his voice in days.

"There, I heard someone! Hey, can you hear me? Is anyone down there?"

Tidus could pick out several voices talking at each other, and tried to call out. However, so intense was the throbbing in his head that he could only manage a muffled cry before his energy gave out. Minutes later, he heard a metallic crunching directly behind him. He squeezed his eyes shut, unsure what to expect, when suddenly, he felt a cool breeze on his back.

"Get a stretcher over here, stat!"

As his senses began to orient themselves, Tidus realized he'd been lying face down, trapped underneath something. What it was, he couldn't be sure, nor could he be sure how he'd gotten there. He found it hard to believe that his father, Auron, and Braska would send him off to die like this. 

As he heard more chatter above him, another thought entered his head. _Dead people don't feel pain. I'm…I'm alive! I'm back in Spira! I don't care how hurt I am; I'm going to go find Yuna. _

"Are you all right?" asked one of the voices, now much more audible in the open air.

Tidus tried to ignore the pounding in his head, but it refused to be dismissed. "N…no," he said weakly. He felt as if he could close his eyes and die right there, so strong was the pain and the fatigue. Only his drive to see Yuna again kept him from giving in.

"It's okay, sir," replied the voice. "You're going to be okay. Can you tell me your name?"

Tidus felt several pairs of hands grabbing him gently, lifting him slowly out of his would-be tomb. When his body was turned face-up, the pain in his head amazingly doubled in intensity, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut and moan in misery. When he worked up enough strength to open his eyes, he could see the night sky above, dotted with a handful of stars. He tried to look to the side, but one of the men was fastening some kind of brace around his neck, locking it onto position. Instead, he rolled his eyes to the side, and saw a city skyline dotted with lights. 

_This looks like…no, can't be. Am I hallucinating? Has to be. I must have landed pretty hard._

"Hey, man, are you with us? Do you remember your name?" The voice was getting more insisting. Tidus wished whoever was speaking would leave him alone so he could think.

"T…Tidus," he finally replied, wincing as they moved his arms and legs. His damaged limbs shot even more needles of pain up his body. 

"You're a blitzball player, aren't you?" asked the man, now shining a light into Tidus' eyes. He reflexively shut his eyes, but the man forced each one open, just long enough to check them. Once he released the lids, Tidus closed them again. "Left forward for the A-East Abes, right?"

Tidus looked at the man in confusion. _The Abes? The Zanarkand Abes? But…I thought no one knew who they were…_

"Where…am I?" asked Tidus. He grimaced as his neck was pricked with a hypodermic needle, injecting a very warm liquid into his jugular vein. Once the needle was removed, his arms and legs were wrapped up with bandages and splints.

"You're lucky to have made it, son," said another one of the voices. Tidus forced his eyes open again and looked the man over. He wore a silver jumpsuit, one that he recognized instantly. It was the uniform for EMTs from Zanarkand. _His_ Zanarkand. 

_But that was only a fayth dream, wasn't it? Or am I in the past, in the _real _Zanarkand?_

Tidus glanced at the other men as they laid him down in the stretcher. He heard a low-pitched hum as the stretcher rose from the ground, on its own accord. _Antigravity stretchers?_ Everything felt so familiar to him, but he couldn't bring himself to believe he was home. Zanarkand had been a fantasy; Spira was his real home. He'd accepted it, and even been happy for it.

He looked over at the other rescuers as they dug through metal and stone rubble. His eyes wandered past them over to the scene behind them all. Now that he could focus, what he saw would have caused him to jump to his feet, had his injuries not locked him onto the stretcher.

He saw the familiar skyline of the Zanarkand in which he'd spent his whole "life", before leaving with Auron during Sin's attack. Before his whole adventure in Spira had begun. Many buildings were lit, but many more were partially or totally destroyed. The horizon had a red glow to it, and he heard the sirens of rescue crews and fire engines as they rushed around the city to put out the fires causing that glow.

"Where am I?" he repeated, his throat burning with exertion.

The lead EMT looked down at him as he led the stretcher toward a waiting ambulance. "You're in what's left of the blitzball stadium, son. Those Djose bastards attacked us during your game. But Zanarkand's strong. It takes a lot more than that to put us down."

Tidus stared at the man in shock. _But that…that's not how it went! I made it out of the stadium, escaped with Auron, and got pulled into Sin! Sin was the one that attacked Zanarkand, not…who did he say? Djose! Sin attacked…wasn't that what happened?_

The EMT, reading the look on Tidus' face, said, "Hey, don't worry. After a couple weeks of R and R, you'll be back blitzing like nothing ever happened." The man's voice was overly cheerful, as if he were only saying the words so his patient wouldn't give up and die on the spot.

As the EMT pushed Tidus' stretcher into the ambulance, Tidus tried to concentrate on figuring out what had happened. When he could find no answer in his exhausted mind, he shut his eyes and simply refused to believe what they were telling him.

_Yuna, where are you? I can't be back in Zanarkand. I can't. I promised you I'd come here with you. I can't be without you._

He heard the ambulance's sirens blare as the vehicle lifted off the ground and sped away. The more Tidus thought about his situation, the more drained he became. Eventually, amid the sudden panicked shouts of the EMTs, he slipped into warm, blissful unconsciousness.


	2. The Dream Is Over

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X and all related characters belong to SquareSoft. For more informartion, play the game and read the credits ;)

  
  
  


Chapter 1: The Dream is Over

  


Tidus slowly eased into consciousness, and began to hear the murmuring of dozens of voices and the scrambling of feet on a hard floor. He tried to open his eyes, but found one was covered with a thick bandage. As the other cracked open, it was immediately overcome by a bright light. He squeezed it shut again, feeling a dull ache in his head from the overpowering brightness.

He gradually worked his eye open again, allowing it to adjust to the light. As it adapted, he could just barely see blurry figures rushing past him in both directions. He then noticed a rhythmic beeping of some electronic device nearby him. He also heard a hissing that he found was perfectly timed with his breaths.

He took a shallow breath and tried to speak aloud, but his words only came out in a faint sigh. His jaw and tongue felt heavy and reluctant to move, as if he'd just had his wisdom teeth pulled and was still under the anesthetic. He tried lifting his head, but his neck was extremely stiff, and was being held down somehow. Realizing he was laying in a slightly reclined position, he glanced down his body with his available eye. Despite his physical weakness and the strange added weight of his arm, he was able to twist his left arm just enough to see the IV needle sticking in his wrist. The rest of his arm was covered with a clear cast filled with a blue gel.

_That looks like a bone knitter_, he thought. He'd last seen one just before a game a few months ago. One of his teammates on the Abes had broken his leg, and was wearing one as he cheered the rest of the team on from the sidelines, just before blitzoff.

_But none of that was real, was it?_

He scanned the rest of his body, and was only mildly surprised at what he saw. Both arms and legs had casts on them, and those casts were attached to cables that attached to something overhead. _I've got two broken arms and two broken legs, and I'm in traction. Man, that sucks. How did I end up like this?_

"Doctor, patient number 3505 is awake. The sedative is wearing off."

Tidus eye snapped up when he heard the nearby male voice. His vision was clearing, and he could see a muscular man standing over him, holding some kind of device. A moment later, a woman in a white lab coat arrived at his side. She gently laid a hand on his forehead and examined the side of his head.

"His wounds are healing nicely. He should be out of the knitters in a couple days." Then, she placed her face in Tidus' line of sight and said, "Sir, we're glad you're awake. We almost lost you. Do you remember what happened?" The doctor looked him directly in the eye, with her hand still on his forehead.

Tidus could hear her amid the noise all around. He hoped she'd be able to hear him, as weak as he felt. "I…I," he breathed, his jaw beginning to cooperate. _I want to sleep longer_, he thought. "I helped…beat…Yu Yevon…and…started to…disappear. Then…I was…in the Farplane…with my dad, then…I was…falling…and I woke up…in some wreckage somewhere." His throat was still dry, but it didn't hurt as much to talk as he thought it should. The wet blanket over his mind was beginning to lift, and he felt his mental acuity return gradually.

The doctor raised an eyebrow and looked up at the nurse, who flipped his device's display toward her. The doctor nodded as she read the data, and said, "Sir, you've sustained a lot of injuries, including a nasty concussion. But it doesn't look like there's any permanent damage. Maybe some minor skin scarring. You should be out of those casts in a few days, and hopefully walking in a week or two. The confusion should pass after we take you off the sedatives."

The doctor started to walk away, but Tidus said, "Wait."

The doctor stopped and returned to his side. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in Nobuo Memorial Hospital in Zanarkand," the doctor replied. "We were lucky to miss out on the attack, but we had to take in all the survivors after the main hospital…was destroyed."

Tidus looked down. _Destroyed? In Sin's attack…right. That seems like forever ago. But, how can I be back in Zanarkand again?_

As he was contemplating his situation, the doctor walked off to tend to another patient. He watched her go, and realized that he was one of dozens lying on cots or gurneys in what looked like a hospital's hallway. Staffers were running themselves ragged trying to help everyone, and responding to cries of pain from various people. He glanced at the different people lying in the corridor, and saw many disturbing images: full-body casts, people missing limbs or even entire sections of their bodies, and many bandages soaked with blood. _Did all these people…survive Sin's attack?_

Tidus heard a renewed beeping to his right. As he looked over, he felt a warming sensation flow through his left arm. He saw a device standing next to his cot, and traced a clear, liquid-filled tube from its source on the device to the IV in his arm. He tried to focus on the machine, but his vision started growing dim again. _Getting… tired. What's…going…on?_

Finally, he was able to lock his eye on the device, barely enough to read its label: "Sedative R-T43." The dull ache throughout his body was slipping away, and he felt a sense of giddiness take over. He could tell they were drugging him, but he didn't want to go to sleep. He had so many questions, but his awareness was fading fast. 

_How did I get here?_ was his last conscious thought before his eyes closed and his body went limp on the cot.

*   


"Hey, brudda? You okay?"

Tidus opened his eyes and found himself staring at Wakka's stubbly face. He gasped, and then breathed a sigh of relief. Then, just as soon as his relief had come, he squinted against the sudden pressure in his head. "Oh, man," he said, bringing his hand to his forehead. "My head feels like it's about to explode."

"Well, 'at's not surprisin', considerin' how you looked when you washed up on the beach, ya?" Wakka grabbed a wet cloth and placed it on Tidus' forehead. 

"I just had the weirdest dream." Tidus tried to sit up, but was hit by a strong wave of dizziness. That, coupled with the pounding in his head, sent waves of nausea up his throat. He collapsed back down onto the cot.

"Whoa, hey man, careful there. You gotta rest up so you can recover, ya?"

Tidus sighed. As bad as he felt now, he was glad that he was awake from that nightmare he was having. "I dreamed I'd ended up back in Zanarkand. My Zanarkand. I was in a hospital, and I was beat up real bad."

"No kiddin, huh?" Wakka said, crossing his arms.

"It was just weird, 'cause I know it wasn't real. That was all a fayth dream. Zanarkand was, I mean." He shook his head slowly, feeling another wave of dizziness come over him.

"Yeah, Yuna explained dat all to us."

Tidus squinted at his fellow Guardian. "How…did she know? I didn't even get to explain it to her. At least, I think I didn't…" he trailed off, trying to concentrate over the pain splitting his skull in two.

Wakka shrugged. "Anyway, it's over now. You're back in Besaid now, so you can relax." Wakka walked over to the door flap, pulled it open, and waved. "Hey, he's doin' better! Come on in and say hi, ya?"

Tidus felt sudden excitement, hoping it was Yuna that Wakka was calling to. However, the sudden sunlight pouring in the opened flap burned Tidus' eyes, and exponentially increased the intensity of his headache. He squinted his eyes, hoping he wouldn't suddenly go blind. He wanted to drink in every bit of Yuna's appearance, so he would know that, finally, he had returned to reality. 

As Tidus gradually allowed his eyes to adjust to the light, he saw a tall figure in a robe standing a few feet in front of him. The imposing form had two horns that came out of its head and swept down parallel to its body. _No…wait_, he thought. _Those aren't horns…that's hair?_

"Hello, Tidus," said the man in a smooth, high-pitched voice. "It's good to see you alive and well."

Tidus gasped in fright, and scrambled away from the visitor. The returning nausea nearly caused him to retch all over himself; only his sudden shock kept him from allowing it to happen. "S-Seymour? What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Despite the dizziness, his adrenaline forced him into full alertness.

"Hey, dat's _Maester_ Seymour to you, pal!" Wakka pointed a scolding finger toward Tidus.

Seymour chuckled, waving Wakka off. "It's all right, Wakka. He's just pleased to see me. Aren't you, my dear fayth dream?" 

"But…but…Yuna _sent_ you! You went to the Farplane!" Tidus nearly shrieked in both fear and rage.

Seymour leaned toward Tidus menacingly, a smirk on his pompous face. "Do you really think something as petty as the Farplane can hold me back? After all, you little Al Bhed friend told you it's nothing but hallucinations brought on by pyreflies, did she not?" He then tilted his head. "After our…meeting…inside Sin, I decided to come back and make everything in my life right again. Just as things should have been." He raised his left hand, revealing a gold band on the third finger. 

"What the hell…?" Tidus spat.

Seymour then pulled out the other hand, which had been behind his back. In its grasp was a silver chain. On the other end of that chain were the bound wrists of petite, young woman.

"Yuna!" shouted Tidus. She was wearing the same wedding dress she had worn to her "wedding" with Seymour, only this time the gown was worn, stained and wrinkled. Her light brown hair was pulled back into the same tight hairdo from that event, but much of the hair was sticking out in all directions, as if she had not touched up the style for some time. Even in a disheveled state, the sight of her was beautiful to Tidus, but she had her head hung in defeat, tears dripping down from her eyes onto the hut's sandy floor. She didn't look up, or even acknowledge Tidus' call. 

Tidus turned back to Seymour, a fire in his eyes. "Seymour! Let her go, you bastard! I'm the one you want! I'm the one that made everyone fight you!"

Seymour smirked audibly, and gave his all-too-familiar schoolboy chuckle. "I know, Tidus. I know. That's why I wanted to pay you a visit. Shall we say, a _final_ visit?"

Seymour reached his left hand out toward Tidus. The nails on that hand began to stretch and thin out, becoming even deadlier claws than before. Tidus tried to defend himself, but suddenly found his arms tied behind his back to a bedpost.

"What the…? Hey! Wakka…Yuna…do something! Help me!" Tidus struggled against his bonds, but they were very strong and tore painfully into his wrists.

He looked frantically at Wakka, who just smiled cockily. "You on your own, Tidus. You gotta be more careful where you wash up, ya?" Wakka taunted, giving his overconfident laugh.

Tidus felt sudden burning in his throat as Seymour's hand wrapped around his neck. His air was immediately cut off, and he began to panic, thrashing wildly on the cot. He looked into Seymour's eyes, seeing hatred as pure as any he'd ever known.

And then, for a second, everything came to a stop. Seymour's hand stopped squeezing, Wakka froze mid-guffaw, and a tear falling from Yuna's eye halted in midair. A child's voice echoed, "Don't be scared of him. You have more power over your destiny than you think."

Tidus tried to speak, but his air was still cut off. _What? Wait, is that…you? What the hell's going on here?_

Then, without warning, everything began moving again. Yuna's tear made a puff of dust as it landed on the sandy floor. Wakka sounded as if he were about to split a gut. And Seymour's hand squeezed Tidus' throat even harder. 

Despite the fact that his airway was closed off, Tidus drew in a breath and screamed.

*   


Tidus screamed. It sounded to him like a hoarse, breathy moan, but it was the best he could muster.

His eyes popped open, and he surveyed the scene frantically. _The hospital_, he thought. _I'm still here. That must have been a dream._ His breathing slowed as he realized his life was no longer in danger from an enemy he'd helped kill several times.

He then realized that he now could use both eyes, but his neck was still immobile, and his body still in traction. That, coupled with the dull ache he felt everywhere in his body almost made him wish he were back trying to defend himself against Seymour, instead of lying here helplessly, and in pain.

"Hey, you okay, T?"

Tidus' eyes shot over to the space beside his bed. When he saw his visitor, he squinted hard, trying to focus on the person's face. He knew he should recognize the person, but he wasn't sure from where. His head still felt a little fuzzy.

"Where…how?" Tidus' breathing became heavy as he tried to speak, despite the fact that each breath brought a piercing pain to his ribs.

"Hey, man, calm down." The visitor placed a hand lightly on Tidus' shoulder. Tidus winced with a twinge of pain, and the visitor promptly pulled his hand away.

"Who…who are you?" Tidus squinted his eyes as he racked his memory. He wasn't in Spira anymore, he was pretty sure of that. He'd woken up a few hours ago in his own Zanarkand. Or, at least, something extremely close to it. Moments earlier, he'd only _dreamt_ that he was back in Spira. Or, maybe he was dreaming now, too; he couldn't be sure of anything anymore. He remembered something about Zanarkand being a dream, but he couldn't remember how.

"Well, they got you on a lot of drugs, and they said you were in pretty bad shape when they brought you in. I guess that'd be enough to make you forget your best friend." The man gave an unsteady smile.

The visitor seemed quite familiar to him; the name was on the tip of his tongue. The man was thin with a stretched oval-shaped face, had shoulder-length brown hair, and wore a black and gray travel outfit. _I should know who this guy is, right? Why the hell can't I…_

The name finally hit him. "Voight? Voight, right?" Tidus' memories flooded back to him now. This man had been his best friend and was once his blitzball agent. In _his_ Zanarkand, anyway. But Tidus was still unsure how he'd returned to a place that really never existed, much less how to react to his friend. 

Voight gave a small smile. "Yeah, glad to see you haven't completely lost your memory or anything. The EMTs said you were delirious for a while there. Kept murmuring about 'Spira' and 'Yuna'. They your new girlfriends?"

Tidus opened his mouth to explain, but decided against it. He didn't feel like discussing much of anything at this point, and he had a feeling that Spira would be a long story. Voight wouldn't understand, and Tidus was too tired to argue with a dream anyway. Instead, he said, "Where have you been?"

Voight crossed his arms pensively. "Well, the last time I saw you, I was on my way to Tifa for a draft conference. Then, I got called to Nostrana for an awards ceremony. I was eating dinner there when I heard about the…attack. I also heard that the stadium had been hit hard, and I knew you had a game that same evening. The air station was put out of commission, obviously, so I took the first ship I could find to get here. Had to pull in a lot of favors for that."

Tidus grimaced. "So I should be grateful you came to see me?" His reply sounded harsher than he had intended, and he looked away in apology.

Voight held up his hands defensively. "No, no, I just…I mean…I had to come see everything…for myself, and I wanted to know if you were okay."

Tidus sighed. "Sorry, it's been a bad day." He didn't want to alienate his first, if not only, link to this world. However, he vaguely remembered that he should be angry with this man. Why that was, he couldn't be sure.

Voight nodded. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one. And actually, I'd say it's been a bad _couple_ of _weeks_."

"Couple of _what_?" Tidus opened his eyes wide. 

Voight sighed. "Damn, nobody told you?"

"Nobody's told me much of anything," Tidus murmured.

Voight rubbed his chin. "Well, when they found you, you'd been missing for over a week. You've been sleeping here the rest of that time, I'd bet. It's been just over two weeks since the attack. I tell ya pal, the fates were smiling on you. From what I hear, you're the only survivor from either team." He lowered his head and his voice. "They said you were doing one of your famous Sphere Kicks and practically flew all the way to the top of the stadium. They said you managed to hold on to the dome's structural beams for a few minutes after the blitz sphere collapsed. You were the only player that didn't end up buried under the whole weight of the stadium roof. The rest of them were…" Voight trailed off.

Tidus didn't want to know. He'd heard all he thought he'd wanted to hear, plus much more. _This can't be a dream,_ he thought. _It's too real. The pain's too strong. But Spira…seemed so real to me too! And the fayth told me that this was all their dream, and once they were sent, all of it would disappear. Including me._

"What?"

"Huh?" Tidus croaked.

"You were staring at me," replied Voight.

"Oh," Tidus said. "Nothing. Just thinking. Everybody I played with. All the guys from the team, just gone. All the people that came to see us play…" He sighed. Somehow, it still didn't seem real to him. The pain was there, and his senses felt as sharp as they could be, considering the drugs he was being filled with. However, he couldn't shake the feeling of how surreal everything felt. He didn't want to think anymore. He wanted to hold Yuna in his arms again. That would make everything right again.

"Yeah," Voight replied solemnly. "There's gonna be a memorial service today for everybody that died in the attack, and in the aftermath. They're gonna read a list of the names, and you're just really lucky that they took your name off that list."

"Thanks," Tidus said grimly. At this moment, he didn't feel particularly lucky. His body was broken, attached to a hospital bed, and, if not for the drugs they were pumping into him, would be in even more pain. And, furthermore, he was living in a world that supposedly did not exist.

"Well, anyway," Voight said, adjusting his position in the chair, "I heard that you've only broken your arms, legs, a few other little things, and cracked a neck bone. Nothing permanent. They said you went into shock, but that's passed now. I'd be willing to bet you'll be blitzing in a few weeks, after some physical therapy."

Tidus closed his eyes. Blitzing had been his life, but it wasn't the first thing he wanted. What he wanted was to know was that Yuna was safe, and to be with her. He would even spend the rest of his life in these casts, if necessary, just so he could be with her. "No stadium, remember?"

Voight shrugged. "The stadium will probably be the first thing they rebuild. A lot of places were destroyed, but the stadium will give everyone a diversion. Plus, we can use it to help raise money for the Reconstruction. We gotta show those Djose sons of bitches that they can't keep us down."

"Djose?" Tidus remembered one of the EMT's mentioning something about Djose attacking Zanarkand, but he knew that wasn't right. It had been Sin that attacked them. He knew what he saw during the attack, and it was not anything built by human hands.

"Yeah. There've been some tensions with them over the past few weeks, but nobody thought they'd sneak-attack us like this. But our army's trouncing 'em good on their own turf." Voight gave a small reassuring smile. "We're getting them for you, and for everyone that was hurt or died that day."

Tidus grunted. He didn't like the idea of war, and was especially concerned because, in his Zanarkand, he never remembered a country named Djose, especially not one at odds with Zanarkand. "You sound like an army recruiter."

Voight laughed for a second, and then cleared his throat. "Well, actually, I did just find out…I just got promoted to the Blitzball Board of Commissions. Publicity Officer."

Tidus raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Well, it was _sort of_ a promotion," Voight replied. He lowered his voice again. "You know I was interning for the Board. Well, several of the Board members, uh, died in the crowd's stampede during the attack. Since they had to fill the positions, they offered one to me." Voight straightened his shirt stiffly. "Hell of a way to get promoted, but I guess they figured I was the right man to bring Blitz back with a vengeance."

Tidus rolled his eyes at his friend's pride. "How do they know Sin won't come back and attack again?"

"How do they know…what?" Voight furrowed his brow. "'Sin'?"

Tidus stuttered, "I-I mean…uh, Djose…" 

Voight stared at him, apparently awaiting Tidus' explanation of "Sin". Fortunately, Tidus felt a warm sensation begin to spread through his body at that moment. He heard a rapid beeping, and glanced over at the IV machine to his right. It was dispensing another dose of sedative. _Good, 'cause everything hurts like hell again. And I'm tired of talking._ He began to feel his mind swim, as if he were becoming drunk. A sense of well being swept across his body, and he quickly felt much better.

"Yeah, well, while you were messing around here, I became a summoner's guardian and helped her destroy Sin." Tidus felt the words flow out of his mouth, no longer sure if he'd intended to say them or not. Not that he cared anymore.

Voight opened his mouth, but quickly closed it again. He then glanced at the IV machine, and his expression softened. "Yeah, I bet you did a hell of a job too."

"Excuse me, sir?"

Voight turned his head toward a small woman behind him. Tidus squinted, and then blurted out, "Yuna!"

Voight turned to look at Tidus, and then back to the nurse. "No, I'm Herlene," she said. "I don't mean to interrupt, sir, but we need visitors to clear out now. We're going to be moving Mr. Tidus' to a room that just came available." She smiled politely. "You can come back tomorrow morning, if you want. Things should be a little more organized by then."

"Of course," Voight said, standing up. He placed a hand lightly on Tidus' shoulder. "Listen, T, you hang in there, okay? When this is all over, you're gonna be Zanarkand's hero."

"Sure Auron, whatever you say." Tidus felt his consciousness slipping away fast, his eyelids becoming lead weights on his face. He started to lose himself in the soothing hallucinations brought on by the sedative. Finally, he gave in fully to the drugs coursing through his veins and allowed them to take him away from the pain and the confusion.

_This dream's pretty interesting,_ he thought, _but I really can't wait to wake up and see Yuna again_. As soon as he had that thought, the world blacked out once more.


	3. Recovery

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X and all related characters are property of SquareSoft.

  
  
  


Chapter 2: Recovery

Tidus grunted as the physical therapist forced his left leg into its bent position. "Jeez, man, why don't you just rip the damn thing off?" Lying on the floor, even on a cushiony mat, was not the most comfortable, considering he'd spent the last week or so lying in a hospital bed. The cavernous gymnasium was crowded, with many other patients being put through their motions. Their various audible responses to their therapy were not reassuring to Tidus.

"I know it hurts, sir," the therapist said, "but we have to work your legs while they're healing, so they won't atrophy. If _that_ happens, you might never be able to blitz again."

Tidus gritted his teeth. "Okay, sorry. Just don't listen to me, okay?" He did his best to endure the torture that man was inflicting upon him, because he knew how right his logic was. Blitzing was the only real skill Tidus had. Well, in _this_ world, anyway. If he couldn't play Blitzball, he would be essentially useless.

Tidus growled as the therapist ran both his legs through their full range of motion. It had been a few days since his bones had healed enough for him to use his limbs, and the therapy had started immediately. As much as it hurt, Tidus wanted desperately to be able to walk and function on his own. He hated not being able to move around of his own accord, and he needed to be able to search for a way back to Spira. He only wished it didn't have to _hurt_ so much.

"You've got a visitor." The therapist continued without even looking up.

"Huh?" Tidus gasped.

The therapist nodded toward the door as he began to massage Tidus' kneecaps. Tidus turned his head, despite the stiffness still in his neck. Standing before him was Voight, with a gray suit and slicked-back hair. "Hey T, what's up?"

"What's it look like?" Tidus smirked, then grimaced again as his right leg was compressed.

"Looks like hell," Voight said, crouching down.

"Close enough."

"How's it coming?" Voight absentmindedly played with Tidus' wheelchair nearby, rolling it back and forth gently.

"Better, I guess," Tidus replied. "I've been feeling more stiff than pain… well, at least until this guy brought me down here." As if to rebuke him, the therapist bent his knee hard, quickly shutting Tidus' mouth.

"How soon do you think you'll be walking?"

Before Tidus could answer, the therapist said, "I'll have him on his feet by the end of the week."

"Be afraid. Be very afraid," Tidus muttered. Voight laughed as Tidus again clenched his jaw against the compression and stretching of his right leg.

Voight sighed. "I'm glad to hear that. I've set up a press conference for you on Friday. It'd look better for the reporters and the crowd if you can walk."

Tidus groaned. "Voight, c'mon, I don't really wanna do a press conference. I've…"

"Listen," Voight interrupted, lowering his voice, "I know how you're feeling right now, but there's a lot of despair out there. People don't care how well the war in Djose is going. Their city's all but destroyed, and they're losing hope. They need something to renew it. Seeing their star Blitzball player alive and walking, well, that'll definitely lift their spirits."

Tidus couldn't protest. Instead, he felt a sudden sense of déjà vu and stared off into space, distracted from the pain in his lower extremities. _Is this what Yuna always went through? Doing things she didn't want to do, to give people hope? Yuna, did I ever really understand why you put everyone else over yourself? Man, I've always been so selfish. Even with everything I did to save your life, it was all because I didn't want to live in a world without you. And then I ended up in one anyway. But now guess I can see just what it's like, to do things for the masses, no matter how much it hurts._

"Hey, Earth to Tidus, you awake, man?" Voight was snapping his fingers in front of Tidus' face.

Tidus snapped his head toward Voight. "Sorry, just thinking."

"Well," said Voight, standing up, "make sure to give the press conference some thought. Zanarkand needs a hero now, and they want you. See you later." He waved and walked out the door.

Tidus sighed. _Guess it's already been decided for me._

"Okay," said the therapist, laying Tidus' leg back down. "Time to work on your arms."

Tidus groaned. _It's gonna be a long week._

*   


Tidus glanced around the small single room. It was small, but in a hospital crowded with patients, he couldn't have asked for more. He actually didn't _remember_ asking for it; he assumed Voight had somehow arranged for them to set him up in a private room. He'd been assured that no one without a room was more seriously injured than he, but he still couldn't help feeling some guilt. At the same time, however, he was glad to have his own room. It gave him a chance to organize his thoughts without someone leaning over him every thirty seconds.

Tidus adjusted the bed so that he was sitting upright. He looked over the piles of "Get Well" cards in his lap, some professionally generated, some drawn in crayon. He couldn't help but smile. If Voight was right about anything, it was that he _did_ have a lot of fans.

However, he still couldn't comprehend how he'd come to be where he was, and where exactly this place was. Despite how real it felt, there was still a surrealism to it all. He couldn't help but wonder: Was this a fayth dream, as before? Or was he in a coma somewhere in Spira, having one final nightmare before he died?

There was a knock at the door and a woman poked her head in. "Sir?"

Tidus turned to her and smiled. "Hey, come on in." He looked the nurse over as she stepped inside the cramped room. She was tall and rail thin, and was one he had not seen before. She held something rolled-up in her hand.

"I, uh…I thought you might like a newspaper," she said, walking toward him with shaking knees. She held the paper out nervously, as if warding off an evil spirit.

"Oh, thanks!" Tidus replied, accepting the paper and laying it down over the cards in his lap. He didn't remember asking for it, but it seemed obvious that she was a fan visiting. As much as he liked being alone in his room, he didn't mind visitors, either.

"And, uh…one more thing," the nurse continued. She pulled something out of her blouse pocket and handed it to him. "Could you please sign this? For me?"

Tidus looked at the object: a collector's card bearing a still image of him performing one of his trademark sphere shots. An overlaid holograph of his portrait winked when the card was tilted. He smiled and asked, "Sure, you got a pen?"

The nurse eagerly handed him a black pen. Tidus started writing on it and asked, "What's your name?"

"Shelinda," the nurse meekly replied.

Tidus looked at her for a second, his brow furrowed. _No…couldn't be. Could it?_

The nurse took a nervous step back and said, "I-is everything okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad…" 

"No, no, it's okay," Tidus said. "It's just that…I used to know someone named Shelinda. She looked kinda like you, actually. Not as pretty as you, though."

Shelinda gasped, covered her mouth with her hands, and turned away. Tidus saw the back of her neck turn bright red, and he grinned. Then, he started writing on the card, and quoted, "'To my good friend Shelinda, from Tidus. Thanks for the paper!'"

Shelinda peeked around, and Tidus handed her the card. She took it eagerly and gazed at his writing. Tidus rubbed the back of his head and said, "I had to write a little small. I hope it's okay."

Shelinda looked back at Tidus, and pressed the card to her chest. "It's...perfect! Thank you soooo much!" With that, she spun on her heel and ran out of the room, nearly knocking down another orderly trying to enter the room.

The orderly barely avoided her, and then walked toward Tidus. "I'm sorry, I don't think she was supposed to be here. I'll let the shift leader know…"

"No, it's okay," Tidus said. "I guess I made her a little happier"

The orderly shrugged and went about his work preparing Tidus' spare linens. _Obviously not a talker_, Tidus thought. He unfolded the newspaper and glanced at the banner headline. His jaw dropped and his heart skipped a beat; he read it again closely to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

ZANARKAND TROOPS INVADE BEVELLE 

_Bevelle. Bevelle! That's where the Maesters were! Wait a sec…_ "Hey," he said to the orderly, holding up the paper. "Where's Bevelle?"

The orderly gave him a questioning look, but said, "It's the capital of the Djose Empire."

Tidus' mouth fell open again. _Bevelle is the capital of Djose. Djose attacked Zanarkand. Bevelle attacked _this_ Zanarkand. And…_Bevelle _attacked the_ real _Zanarkand, the one in Spira, didn't it? Wasn't that what Seymour told us?_

"Bevelle attacked Zanarkand," Tidus muttered.

"Yeah," the orderly said, his voice drawn out with confusion. "Bevelle attacked us. That's why we're invading them." The orderly's condescending tone would have normally offended the receiver, but Tidus wasn't paying much attention. He had wrapped his mind around this new important piece of information.

"Of course! It makes sense now!" Tidus practically jumped out of the bed, sending fan cards flying. He almost crumpled onto the floor, but propped himself up against the wall, with the orderly's help. "Seymour said Bevelle attacked the real Zanarkand a thousand years ago! I'm not in a fayth dream! I'm in the past!"

The orderly kept silent, keeping an eye on Tidus as he slowly helped him back into the bed. "Sir, I'm going to get the doctor…"

"N-No, wait," Tidus interrupted. "Sorry. I, uh, had a really weird dream earlier, and it's been stuck in my head. That's…that's what I was talking about. I just figured it out."

"Oh, uh, okay," the orderly said. He glanced at Tidus periodically, watching for any more strange outbursts as he finished his work. When he was done, he backed out of the room, never turning his back on the patient. Tidus picked up the newspaper and scanned the article. _Okay, I'm in the past. The fayth said I was a dream based on someone that actually lived in the past, right? Now I'm here, and I'm real._ An unexpected sense of relief washed over him. _Maybe I'm a thousand years in the past, but I'm in Spira. That means I'm a lot closer than I thought. _

*   


Tidus looked in the mirror and straightened his tie. He hated wearing any formalwear, or practically any clothing that he couldn't wear while playing Blitzball. Yet by Voight's constant prodding, and his desire to get the man out of his hair, Tidus grudgingly agreed to wear the white tuxedo.

_He said it'd make everyone happy. Bleh. I look like a waiter._ Tidus grimaced and stuck his tongue out at himself. He then checked a strap of the brace on his left leg. Despite the treatment and therapy, his left leg was still a little too weak for him to fully stand on. He gave a sidelong glance at the gray metal cane leaning against the well. _I'm gonna look like some old fart hobbling around. Damn you, Voight. Hope this makes you happy._

Earlier that day, Tidus had finally remembered why he'd been angry with Voight. Voight had resigned as Tidus' agent to take an internship with the Blitzball Commission. That was the part Voight knew. But Tidus was actually on the verge of _firing_ Voight just before he quit. Tidus was tired of being volunteered for media circuses like the one he was about to join, all for the sake of publicity.

He sighed. If Voight weren't the only person he knew that had existed, and was still living, in this time, he'd tell the "Board of Commissions" member what to go do with himself. Probably Voight's only redeeming quality was that he seemed to be devoted to Tidus, even if it were mainly for personal gain.

"Hey, T, you ready?"

_Speak of the devil._ "I feel like a stiff in this thing." Tidus spun the left wheel of his wheelchair, turning himself to face his "friend".

"Hey, trust me, the women'll love it. You look pretty good in it." Voight knelt down in front of Tidus and straightened his tie. "There. The press will eat you up."

"God, Voight, you're making this into just some damned publicity thing! I thought we were gonna do this to cheer up the _people_!" Tidus stopped, and stared through Voight to the wall behind him. _I'm doing it to make the people happy again. Just like Yuna. God, I miss her._

"Hey, you listening?"

Tidus shook his head. "What?"

Voight rolled his eyes. "Gotta wake up, man. I said that publicity and the press will let us reach everyone in Zanarkand, even those that don't live in the city. The _publicity_ will make everyone happy. You just have to do it, and I promise you'll have 'em…I mean…everyone will be feeling a lot better off."

Tidus was pretty sure what Voight was about to say, and that it had more to do with his fame and the hefty bonus Voight would probably receive once Blitzball was back in business.

"Let's just go, okay? I wanna get this thing off soon." As Voight stood, Tidus tried to wheel himself around the man. Voight, however, slipped behind Tidus and began pushing the wheelchair.

"I gotcha," Voight said. "I don't get why you didn't want a hoverchair."

"'Cause I don't _want_ one," Tidus said flatly. "The doc says I'll be walking without a cane in a day or two."

"Glad to hear it, because we'll picking the new team soon. We're starting trials this week in the stadium in Tifa."

Tidus heart skipped a beat. "This week?" _Is he gonna start it without me?_

"Yeah," Voight replied. "We'll be having all our games there for a while, at least until Zanarkand Stadium is rebuilt. You're coming, of course."

Tidus felt some relief. Even if he couldn't necessarily participate in the game at first, he'd have a chance to get out of the hospital, and back to what he'd loved most of all. At least, he'd loved it most until he became Yuna's guardian. "Good, I gotta get out of here."

"I'll take care of it, don't worry."

No more words were shared between the two men as they traveled through the corridors toward the elevator. Various doctors, nurses, and patients gave Tidus good-luck waves and supportive cheers. Tidus thanked them, but tried to concentrate on what he was going to say in front of the crowd. He usually didn't have a problem speaking in public, but it was almost always when he was preparing for a game, and was already running on adrenaline. This time, he felt butterflies in his stomach something fierce.

When they finally reached the front doors of the hospital, a gaggle of hospital employees standing at the door cheered him on. He waved and smiled, finally beginning to feel more like a human being, and less of a victim.

Outside the sliding glass doors was a crowd of reporters and people pointing video cameras though the door at him, bright lights searing Tidus' retinas. He blocked his face against the light, and several employees opened the doors, pushing the reporters away so he could be wheeled outside.

Once they were outside, a group of security guards pushed the reporters further away from the doors. Voight brought Tidus' chair to a stop about three meters away from a podium that was lined with microphones. He leaned down and said, "Don't forget, after I introduce you…"

"I remember, I remember," Tidus said, half smiling in spite of himself. Voight had been acting like an overprotective mother lately. He found it both funny and at least a bit annoying.

"Okay." Voight winked as he stepped up to the podium. He cleared his throat as the crowd began to quiet down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Zanarkans, thank you for coming." Voight spread his arms wide in a gesture of welcoming. "I know we've suffered many losses over the past month. Most of us have lost friends and loved ones. Our homes and workplaces were destroyed, and our faith in ourselves shaken." He hung his head slightly. "I can only hope that it is a consolation, that we have already begun rebuilding much of what we lost. We can't replace everything, but we can show our enemies that they cannot crush our will, nor can they break our spirit!"

The crowd cheered loudly. Tidus clapped, but he suspected that Voight was more concerned with securing his place in history than cheering people up. He wasn't surprised in the least of the ovation the man received. _He can really work a crowd, like always._

Voight spoke on for a few more minutes, and Tidus only paid half of his attention to the speech. He glanced over the crowd, seeing the hopeful faces staring both at Voight, and at him. He noticed one young boy in particular, staring at him from the arms of an old lady. The boy pointed at him and smiled. The old lady nodded and said something to the child. However, the boy never took his eyes off Tidus.

Tidus glanced at the old lady holding the child. She looked much too old to be the child's mother, and there were no other adults near them that seemed to be paying him any attention. _Maybe his grandmother,_ he thought. Then another thought struck him. _Maybe that kid doesn't have parents. Maybe he lost them in the attack. And he's looking at me with all that hope._ His stomach grew queasy. Riding on the hopes of his fans, for the sake of winning a game, was one thing. Riding on the hopes of people who'd had their lives torn apart by war was something else. He waved at the child, but sighed sadly.

"And now, my friends," Voight continued, "I know you're all eager to hear from my good friend…" Tidus winced at that, "…and Zanarkand's star Blitzball player, truly a miracle in his own right, Tidus!"

The cheers were deafening, rising over any cheers they'd given Voight. Voight turned to Tidus and gestured to him. Tidus hesitated for a second, and then grasped his cane and began pushing himself up out of the wheelchair. An orderly tried to help, but Tidus shook him off. "I got it," he said.

He stood up fully, eliciting cheers that were amazingly louder than before. Putting on a forced smile, he slowly walked to the podium, making sure to lean as much weight as possible onto the cane in his left hand. Flashes of light popped almost constantly, forming a strobe effect that gave him a headache.

When he reached the podium, he waved. "Hi, uh, everybody!" The crowd cheered once again. Tidus scanned the crowd. He was reminded of the crowd that had met him before the last Blitzball game he'd played in Zanarkand, just before Sin's attack. Then, they'd been looking to him to win a game. Now, they wanted him to take them away from the horrors of life, if only for a few minutes.

"I know that, uh, we've had a lot of hard times recently." Tidus cleared his throat. "I myself woke up under a ton of metal, and my arms, legs, and back were broken. I was pretty, uh, run down, I guess."

The crowd began to murmur. Voight whistled quietly, signaling to Tidus to lighten his tone. Tidus ignored him. "But I've got good news. Almost everything's healed up, and I won't even need this soon." He held up the cane to show it to the crowd. "We're gonna start Blitzball again, and I promise you I'm gonna be in the first game, playing for all of Zanarkand!"

The crowd again erupted into cheers, whistles, and clapping. Tidus smiled shyly, looking over the people again. "I, uh…" he said, as the crowd began to quiet down. "I know that we're gonna have to, uh…" He stopped, and moved his eyes back to the right. He could have sworn…

_There! Is that…no, it…can it be?_

"Yuna?" he said in a low voice, but just loud enough to be picked up by the microphones. The crowd's muffled cheers died down into a confused murmur as they all looked in the direction he was focusing his eyes.

The young woman he saw looked around herself, and then put her hands to her chest questioningly. Tidus blinked, and suddenly, he no longer saw Yuna, but a puzzled young woman. Her hair was close, but the face was nowhere near that of the summoner he'd left. He shook his head in confusion.

Voight immediately stepped up to the podium, pulling the microphone toward himself. "I'm sorry, friends, but Tidus has had a very long recovery, and it's been very taxing on him. But I just want to let you all know that trials for the new Zanarkand team, the Vibes, will be starting this week. Of course, those trials will be held at the stadium in Tifa. They're open to the public, and there will be free shuttles to Tifa for those that wish to attend. Tidus will be assisting in the judging of the candidates, and as soon as he's ready, he'll be joining the new team in training, as their captain!"

The crowd, suddenly forgetting Tidus' moment of confusion, roared with cheers. Voight turned to Tidus and tapped him on the shoulder. Tidus turned to him, still with a blank, confused look on his face. Voight tilted his head and mouthed, "They're cheering for you."

Tidus looked back over the crowd, who began to chant his name as they clapped. He gave a smile filled with new confidence, raised his fist into the air and shouted, "Zanarkand rules!" The crowd's cheers approached a deafening level.

Voight again placed his hand on Tidus' shoulder and gestured behind him. Tidus looked around, and saw that an orderly had rolled the wheelchair up behind him. Tidus slowly lowered himself into the chair, and then raised his hand again to the crowd as he was wheeled back inside the hospital.

*   


Tidus sat in his room, staring at himself in the mirror. He was now sitting on the bed, and had undone his tie and the top few buttons of his shirt.

As he stared at himself, he tried to make sense of his hallucination. _What the hell is going on here? I'm stuck in the past, I know that. Yuna's not here. There's no way for her to be here, unless the Al Bhed've somehow invented time travel. Yeah, right._ He ran a hand through his hair. He was still embarrassed over his hallucination in front of all those people. _I haven't been on the drugs for over a week now. I can't blame it on that._

Just then, interrupting his train of thought, there was a knock at the door. "Yeah?" he sighed.

The door opened, and Voight peeked inside. "Just wanted to see if you're still awake."

"Yeah," Tidus replied. "I'm tired but I can't sleep." He noticed Voight was still in his business suit, still neatly groomed.

Voight stepped in and closed the door behind him. "The crowd loved you, and I think we'll have a full house for the trials."

"Yeah, great," Tidus replied unenthusiastically. He lay back on the bed, feeling a slight twinge in the small of his back. Those muscles were still a little stiff.

Voight sighed and slid into a chair, finally loosening his tie. "So, what happened back there?"

"What happened where?" Tidus asked innocently. He pushed himself back up into a sitting position.

"You stopped in the middle of your speech, and stared at someone in the crowd, calling her 'Luna' or something." Voight folded his hands in his lap, but held his gaze fixed on Tidus.

"Yuna," Tidus corrected.

"Whatever." Voight waved his hand. "Was it someone you know?"

Tidus shrugged. "In a past life, maybe." He chose not to explain any further, as the last thing he needed was Voight thinking he was crazy. If he didn't already.

Voight leaned forward. "Well, you need to not have any more episodes like that, okay? Because otherwise people will get worried. And if they do that, they won't come watch Blitzball. You get where I'm going with this?"

Tidus sighed. "Yeah, I do. I'm sorry, it's just been rough."

"I know, I know," Voight said. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound harsh. I just want to make sure that you're up to all this."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Tidus replied. He turned back to stare at his image in the mirror. He could just barely notice the gray lines under his eyes. He felt tired, but was still too anxious to lie down and sleep.

"Maybe you should talk to someone."

Tidus raised an eyebrow and turned to Voight. "Huh?"

"I don't mean a shrink, I just mean, like a counselor, or something." Voight cracked his knuckles nervously. "You've been talking about this 'Yuna' person, and some other…unusual things ever since you woke up in the hospital. I'm no doctor, but I think that maybe you've got something stuck in your head from when you were in the coma, and it's trying to let itself out."

Tidus opened his mouth to reply, but shut it again. How could he explain Yuna, and Spira, and everything else he'd experienced? _Voight really does think I'm crazy, he just doesn't want to say it._ "I'm fine, man."

"Are you?" Voight raised his eyebrows. "Look, I've been your friend for a long time, and I know you weren't too happy with me leaving like I did…"

_Understatement of the year,_ Tidus thought.

"…but I _do_ worry about you. Not just on a professional level. I want to be your friend again. Get you to trust me like you used to." Voight leaned forward. "What is it you don't want to tell me?"

Tidus gave a nonchalant smile. "Nothing, really. I'm just having trouble with…things. You know, like cabin fever. That's it."

Voight sighed and stood up. "Okay, fine. Look, the trials are starting Thursday, and the doctors said they can discharge you on Wednesday, so you'll have enough time to catch the ferry to Tifa. I'll have all the arrangements ready, including a hotel and a physical therapist there. If the doctors clear it, you can start training after the trials."

Tidus nodded. "Okay. Thanks. It'll feel good to be blitzing again. Help me clear my mind." _So I can figure out how to get back to Yuna,_ he finished in his head.

Voight nodded and left the room. Tidus then turned back to the mirror. He could swear he saw a few more lines appear on his face since just a minute before. _What the hell is going on with me? It'd be one thing if I were just dreaming about Yuna and Spira, but now I'm seeing them when I'm awake. Am I really going crazy?_

_Or is someone trying to tell me something?_

  
  



	4. Those Eyes

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all related characters, etc. belong to SquareSoft (aka Enix Square). The author is receiving no financial compensation for publishing this.

  


Chapter 3: Those Eyes…

  


Tidus clenched his teeth and pushed against the floor. "Fifty-one!" he shouted, before collapsing face down onto the floor. He breathed in gulps, sweat dripping from his brow.

"Hey! Looks like you're doing better than you were just yesterday!"

Tidus rolled over and looked up at the person addressing him. A crowd of fifteen people had gathered around to watch him exercise, and one young boy who looked to be about fourteen was leaning over, smiling at him.

Tidus tried to control his breathing. Since the ship bound for Tifa had left the day before, he'd spent every possible moment training himself. Although he still couldn't do the hundred pushups of which he used to be easily capable, he had vastly improved since being bedridden only a few weeks before.

"Thanks!" he said, trying to keep a cheerful demeanor. He sat up with a grunt. "I gotta make sure I'm ready to blitz in a couple days!"

He pushed himself up off the floor, nearly losing his balance and eliciting gasps from the small crowd. Once he steadies himself, Tidus bent over into a stretch. Then, he started running in place, and finally broke into a jog, weaving through the small gaggle. As he passed through the gymnasium doors, he waved and said, "See ya later!"

Just after he exited the gym, Tidus broke into a hard run before they could follow. Although his body was tired, his adrenaline more than made up for it. Running almost gave him a thrill, as if he were playing a game of "Catch the Blitzer" with his fans. However, the real reason he ran was because he just wanted to do two things: exercise and be alone. As much as he loved his fans, he found it hard to think when they were crowding him so tightly. As he wove his way around milling passengers and crew, he reflected back on the past few days.

He was utterly amazed that he had only been walking without his cane since the previous Friday, and here he was working out and running as if he were preparing for a new season of Blitzball.

Then again, he _was_ preparing for a new season. He was absolutely incredulous over his rapid recovery. He found it hard to believe that only a few weeks before this he had been practically paralyzed, lying in a hospital cot, wondering if he were going to live or die. The doctors attributed his recuperation to their medical skill, technology, and a lot of luck, but Tidus felt that some other force had been at work. He didn't think there was any way even his own Zanarkand would have had advanced enough medical technology to rapidly heal someone as grievously injured as he was, but he had no other explanation. The only time he remembered people bouncing back from bad injuries was in…

_What_ was _Spira, anyway?_ he asked himself. _A place where magic's real, and anybody can learn to use it. Even_ me.

"Maybe it was my Curaga magic," he muttered in between breaths.

"What?"

Tidus turned his head, surprised to see a young woman following closely behind him. As he tried to think of a reply, he smacked hard into someone that had been standing on the deck. Tidus and the other person tumbled onto the ground in a flail of arms and legs. The young woman skidded to a halt and just barely avoided tripping over the two.

"_What the hell?_ Damn kid!" The man over whom Tidus had tripped smacked a fist into the plastiwood deck and grabbed his glasses from where they had fallen. 

Tidus scrambled away from him, stood up, and held out his hand. He said breathlessly, "Oh, man, I'm sorry. I shoulda been…"

"Damn right you shoulda been!" the man shouted, replacing his glasses on his face. "Now stand right there while I kick your…" The man looked at Tidus and his eyes opened wide. "Oh…uh…Mr. Tidus…I…sorry, I should have been watching where I was standing."

Tidus was taken aback at the sudden change in the man's attitude. "No, it was my fault, really." He held out his hand further, which the man tentatively took as he stood up.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" The man's gruff voice had been replaced with a low, almost groveling tone.

"Nah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" Tidus asked, his hands out in a gesture of non-aggression.

"Yeah…fine. I'll get out of your way." The man then ran off before Tidus could say another word. A small crowd of people that had gathered around the confrontation murmured amongst themselves.

"Whew, that was close."

Tidus looked over. The young woman that had been following him was now standing next to him, almost uncomfortably close. Tidus instinctively took a half step away from her, but said nothing.

She was a few inches shorter than Tidus, with long blonde hair done in a dozen small braids. She wore blue halter-top, tight yellow shorts, and black water socks. However, what most struck him were her eyes. They seemed very familiar to him. Deep blue, inquisitive eyes that held a certain sparkle in them. It was something he hadn't seen since…

"I'm Celia," she said, sticking her hand out. "Sorry I distracted you, but I was out here training, too, and thought I'd run up and say 'hi'."

Tidus just stared at her. She smiled widely and tilted her head. As she did so, Tidus could have sworn he saw her right eye glint with a green hue. He felt tingles in his skin as a familiar feeling of well-being washed over him.

"This is kinda awkward, you know," Celia said, her hand still extended.

"Huh?" Tidus shook his head. "Oh, sorry." He took her hand and shook it slowly.

"You're, uh, shaking. You all right?" Celia asked in a low voice.

"I…uh…sorry, you just remind me of someone," Tidus said as he withdrew his hand. The crowd was beginning to disperse, the moment of excitement now past.

"Hey, there he is!"

Tidus looked past Celia and saw the same group of kids that had been stalking him earlier. "Damn," he whispered. Then, to Celia, "Look, I'm sorry, but I gotta run. I'll see ya!" He launched himself in the same direction the loud gentleman had run a few moments earlier.

As he ran, Tidus thought, _Man, this is just _weird_! I gotta get some time to myself so I can think!_

"You'll never make it to your cabin!"

Tidus felt goose pimples on his arms as he heard the female voice. Taking a quick glance behind him, he said, "C'mon, stop following me!"

"They've already crowded your cabin, probably, and I don't think the crew wants to help you get time to yourself!" Celia tried to keep up with Tidus, who was now sprinting even faster than before.

"I'll figure something out!"

"No, I have a better idea!" Celia shouted. "Come on!" She ran past him and then ducked into an open doorway to the left. Tidus tried running past the doorway, but she grabbed his arm with surprising strength. He swung into metal wall, barely avoiding smacking his nose into it.

Tidus yelped out. "Hey, what's the big…whoa!"

Celia yanked him onto the dark room and quickly shut the steel door. A dim light in the room just barely illuminated them as Tidus glared at the young woman, rubbing his shoulder. "Man, that hurt! You're lucky I…"

"Shh!" Celia put a finger to Tidus' lips. Her touch sent another tingle up Tidus' back, but only slightly dulled his anger with her.

After a few seconds, they heard the tromping of about a dozen feet on the other side of the door, accompanied with the voices of excited, winded groupies. After a few more seconds, they faded away.

"Well, you're safe from _them_, for now anyway," Celia said, sitting down from her crouching position.

Tidus sighed and looked around the room. There was a large metal HVAC manifold next to them in the cramped room, with square metal ducts branching off from it in all directions toward the walls. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Hey, c'mon, cheer up! Why are you so down? You always used to be so cheerful and energetic when I saw you on TV before!" Celia hugged her knees to her chest and smiled at him. Tidus looked over at her, and felt his frown melt into a small, amused smile.

"Well, I just…"

"Wanna scream?"

Tidus blinked at the dimness. "What?"

Celia tilted her head. "I didn't say anything."

He shook his head. "Oh…huh. Sorry, I…"

"I learned to practice smiling when I'm feeling sad."

"…I guess I'm just adjusting to my life again, you know?" he finished, ignoring the voice that he thought he heard. "Look, thanks for saving me and all, but I gotta get back to my room and rest up for tomorrow. I mean, I know I'll run into those people, but I probably wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for them, you know?" 

Celia shrugged and gave a disappointed sigh. "Okay, I was just trying to help."

"Thanks," Tidus replied. After a few moments of silence, he scratched his knee. "Hey, if you, uh, wanted some help training, or something, you can come see me in Tifa. After I pick the new team, I'm gonna be training to play in the new season."

Celia brought her hands to her mouth. "You're gonna be…_judging_ the trials? Oh, I'm sorry, but I shouldn't even be talking to you. It wouldn't be fair if…" She broke off.

Tidus fidgeted. _If what?_

Celia stood up abruptly. "Look, I…I gotta go. I'll see you…later." She opened the door, nearly striking Tidus with it, and rushed out before another word could be said.

Tidus jumped up and ran out of the room, but Celia had vanished into thin air. He put his hands to his hips.

_Did I say something wrong?_

*   


Tidus awoke to feel the warm sun bathing his face. He brought his arm up to shield his eyes from the light, and realized that he was floating, on his back, in water. He spun until he was upright, and found himself staring across a vast ocean. 

_Wha…how did I get here?_

"Hey, watch out!"

Tidus spun around, and just narrowly dodged an object flying toward his head. It skidded on the water's surface and came to rest a few meters behind him. 

_A blitzball?_ He thought, staring at the blue and white studded sphere.

"Hey, you wanna get that for us?"

Tidus turned back around. That voice was so familiar. So was the situation. He swam at the ball, grabbed it and, as he was about to toss it back, smirked and flung it straight up. It landed on top of his head, and he launched himself up out of the water, sending the ball flying upward as he did a half-twist. He flipped end-over-end, and when the ball was just above his feet, he kicked with all his might.

The ball shot like a bullet toward the beach from where it had come. Several people standing on the beach scrambled away from the ball as it flew past them and bounced off the cliff beyond.

He quickly swam to shore, quite sure what he would find there. _The Aurochs, training for their tournament. And Wakka'll ask me to do that sphere shot again, and to join the team._

When he surfaced, he was not disappointed. A half-dozen tan-skinned men stood there, all gawking at him. One, the tallest, most muscular, and with the most unique hairstyle, asked, "You wanna try that move one more time?"

"Nah," Tidus replied. "I'll just do the Jecht Shot. How 'bout that?"

"Ah, you like showing off, ya?" Wakka asked, clapping him on the shoulder. "Where ya been Tidus?"

Tidus hesitated for a second, but then laughed warmly. "You wouldn't believe me," he said, shaking hands with the rest of the Aurochs.

"Well, it's 'bout time you got back, 'cause Yuna's been waiting for you."

Tidus' smile dropped slightly. "Not with Seymour, is she?"

Wakka's smile disappeared altogether. "You hit your head or somethin'? Seymour's _dead_, remember?"

Tidus waved him off. "Nah, I just had a weird dream before…never mind. Is Yuna in the village?"

"Yeah," Wakka said. "They got a new house and everything."

Tidus heart stopped for a moment. "…they?"

"Well hello there." Tidus turned around to see Lulu. However, instead of her familiar long, belt-adorned black dress, she wore a tan Auroch Blitzball uniform. Her face looked quite pale and was uncharacteristically clear of makeup.

"Lulu? That you?" Tidus took a pensive step toward her.

Lulu smiled, again uncharacteristically. "I've been waiting for you." With that, she grabbed him by the neck and kissed his lips deeply.

For about a half second, Tidus allowed the kiss to happen. Then, however, he pushed away from her with all his might. "Lulu, what the hell…"

Lulu arched her eyebrows. "What's that for, lover? I've waited so long, I even started playing Blitzball so I could be on your team when you got back."

"_Lover?_ What are you talking about? I'm in love with Yuna!" Tidus backed away, nearly bumping into Keepa who struggled to keep a ball on his wide head.

Lulu's mouth fell open, and then she pouted. "But…in Guadosalam, you said _I_ was more your type…"

Tidus mouth fell open. "Lulu…that was a joke, and I told you so!"

Lulu dug her bare toes into the sand. "You were joking…" She then turned around and began to sob both loudly and obnoxiously.

Wakka stepped between them. "Hey, c'mon brudda. Yuna's kids wanna see you too."

Tidus shook his head. _Kids…?_ Then it struck him. _A dream. This is all a dream._ "This is just another dream, isn't it?"

"I thought _you_ were the dream," Wakka quipped, walking back around Tidus.

Tidus shook his head. "I'm not playing along. I'm gonna wake up now." He put his hands to his hips and turned toward the ocean, tuning out Wakka's taunting and Lulu's incessant, melodramatic weeping.

"You can change it, if you want."

That was a different voice. Tidus turned his head slightly, and saw a small child in a hooded parka, standing on the beach just beyond Wakka. He noticed that Wakka and everyone else had stopped moving, frozen in time. Just like in the dream he had before.

"You too," Tidus said to the fayth child. "You're not real either."

"And you are?"

Tidus gritted his teeth. _Is he making fun of me?_

"What's real, after all?" asked the fayth before Tidus could reply. "For your whole life, you lived in a Zanarkand of our creation. To you, it was as real as anything." The child strode out toward the water until it just barely brushed his toes.

Tidus walked away from him, glancing at Lulu in her ridiculously gaudy Blitzball uniform, still hunched over with her hands to her face. "Then whaddya call this?" He gestured to Lulu.

The fayth shrugged. "There's a difference between a fayth's dream and a dream's dream."

"Huh?"

The fayth child turned to him, a sly smile on his face. "You'll understand soon enough. When the time's right, you'll make a choice. But, for now, live in your world."

"My world doesn't exist anymore," Tidus said. "It was destroyed when Yuna sent you all to the Farplane. The Zanarkand I'm in now is different. And I know you're just a part of this dream." He spread his hands wide, gesturing to the scenery.

The fayth suddenly began to fade. "Call it a role reversal then. Shape your own destiny."

Tidus let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Just disappear now when I might actually need your help."

As the fayth vanished completely, a voice came out of the air. "No, you don't. Not yet. I'll be there when you _really_ need me."

*   


Tidus opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. He glanced around the room, and recognized his cabin on the ship bound for Tifa. The speaker next to his bed was beeping obnoxiously.

Seconds later, a voice came over the speaker, "Mr. Tidus, sir, this is your wake up call. We will be docking in thirty minutes. Please prepare to debark."

Tidus scratched the back of his head. _Good thing I took a shower last night._ Still clothed, he swung his feet over the bed and slipped his sneakers on, not even bothering to tie them. He'd had to buy all new clothes, and had basically settled for a yellow and black outfit closely resembling his old Blitzball uniform. Despite his wealth, he felt most comfortable wearing the outfit all the time.

He glanced at his single backpack. He had virtually no material possessions, as everything in his houseboat was destroyed weeks before. His money, however, was kept in the protected banks of the Southern Islands, so he was in no danger of being destitute.

As he walked out onto the deck with his bag slung over his shoulder, he was once again inundated with passengers. Tidus gave everyone renewed smiles and greeted them. They responded by asking him questions all at once.

"Hey, you're gonna be at the trials, right?"

"I got some cool moves. Wanna see?"

"I wanna be a blitzball when I grow up!"

Tidus blinked at that last statement. Somewhere, somehow, he remembered hearing that nonsensical sentence before.

"Look, we're landing!"

Tidus looked out on Tifa, and felt a familiar warmth in his chest. Tifa was a large city, though not nearly as large as Zanarkand. However, it was good to see a city that wasn't lying in ruins, being cleaned up and rebuilt during all hours.

As Tidus weaved through the crowd exiting the ship onto the dock, he was hit by a strange sensation. He looked around. The docks hadn't changed much since the last time he'd been there.

But at the same time, he wasn't sure he'd ever actually _been_ there before.

As he wandered on the dock, he felt himself get bumped from behind. He grabbed his bag to keep it from falling off and turned around. 

A female voice started, "Oh, I'm sorry, it's just so crowded…"

Tidus opened his eyes wide when he saw her. It was Celia. But not just Celia. Something about how the sun glinted off her hair, and how her eyes held a familiar sparkle…

"Oh, Tidus…sorry, I have to, uh, go…" With that, she ran off before Tidus could say another word.

"Hey, man, I see you've found a new girlfriend."

Tidus turned back, and saw Voight standing there, smirking with impunity and wearing some type of athletic outfit.

"I met her on the ship," Tidus replied. "She reminds me of someone."

"That 'Yuna', right?"

Tidus fell silent. He last thing he wanted was teasing from Voight about Yuna, even if Celia _did_ remind him a little of her.

"Just kidding," Voight retracted. "C'mon, I have a hover limo waiting. We can go check you in at the hotel…"

"Oh no," Tidus said, holding up his hands "I wanna get to the stadium!"

*   


Tidus stepped out of the limousine and looked up at the giant open-air stadium, gleaming in the mid-morning sun. It was smaller than the stadium that was once in Zanarkand, but it still gave him a warm feeling of home.

"It's not as grand as Zanarkand stadium, but the sphere is top-notch."

As Tidus turned to respond to Voight, his vision flashed. Suddenly, he was no longer in a paved lot, but was standing on a brightly-colored metal bridge over the open water. Before him was a grand stadium more gigantic than even the one in Zanarkand. People wearing all types of clothing walked past him. Some weren't even human. Large catlike creatures and hairy people with long arms and thin, clawed fingers pushed past him. He looked up, and his heart stopped when he saw the sign over the doorway:

_"LUCA STADIUM"_

"Hey."

Tidus felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face its owner, and suddenly found himself again standing in a black paved lot. He looked forward again, and saw Tifa Stadium, as before. He shook his head, trying to regain his senses.

"Didn't get much sleep last night, did ya?" Voight had an eyebrow raised. Tidus only shrugged, at a loss for words. Voight smiled. "You're excited, I bet. Don't worry, the trials start in less than an hour. C'mon." He started walking toward the stadium.

Tidus took a few steps in following, but then heard the whine of a hover engine behind him. He turned back to see the limousine driving away.

"Hey! He's got my stuff in there!"

"Don't worry about it," Voight replied. "He's taking it to the hotel. You gotta stay somewhere tonight, ya?"

Tidus snapped his head back toward Voight. "What'd you just say?"

"I said you're staying at the Palagra Hotel tonight." Voight pursed his lips.

Tidus waved his hand. "No, no. I thought you just said…uh…ah, never mind. Let's go." He started toward the stadium entrance, leading the confused Voight inside.


	5. Fiends!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all related characters, locations, etc. belong to Square Enix.

  


Chapter 4: Fiends!

  
  


Tidus fidgeted in his seat as he watched the blitzers swimming about the sphere, passing and shooting several pastel-colored balls as goalies practiced blocking. He was quite jealous of them; he wanted to be out there with them, playing the game, feeling alive again. A decent-sized crowd had also shown up, and were cheering on their favorites. It brought back many fond memories for him.

"I think number eighteen has definite potential," Voight said.

Tidus scanned the sphere until he found the number "18", zigzagging along the sphere's surface. The number followed the person it identified as she swam around inside. Tidus focused on her and felt a slight tingle in his cheeks.

Celia was number eighteen. And as he watched, he could see her swimming circles around several of the other hopefuls.

"Wow," he said.

"Yeah," Voight replied. "I know it's early, but I'd say she'll _definitely_ be on the team."

As they continued watching the players, Tidus' patience stretched to the limit. At one point, he practically jumped out of his chair and got ready to run toward the sphere. However, Voight grabbed his arm as soon as his backside left the chair. "Hey, cool it, Tiger. You'll get your chance soon enough."

Tidus groaned, smacked his fist against his thigh, and plopped back down in his chair. Voight chucked out loud, and turned his attention back to the players.

Finally, after Tidus, Voight, and the third judge had agreed on enough candidates for the second stage of the tryouts, Voight spoke into the microphone, "Okay, everyone, that's good for now. Everyone to the bench."

The players all complied, some confidently launching themselves from the water toward the bench while others demurely swam to the water's edge, grabbed the ladders, and climbed up to their spots in the open air. 

Voight stepped onto a hoverpad and, grabbing his notepad, floated off toward them. "You've…all done…remarkably," he hesitated, absently flipping through pages on his notepad. Tidus rolled his eyes. He knew Voight was just dramatically increasing their suspense. "We've narrowed it down to twelve candidates, who will go on to the second phase of the trials. From there we will choose seven players who will join Tidus," he gestured to Tidus, who just waved modestly when everyone looked back at him, "as players on Zanarkand's new team, the 'Vibes'. And before I announce the names, I would just like to say that everyone has done well here today, and even if you don't get chosen, you should try out again next year. Or, consider trying out for any of the other league teams."

Tidus was very excited about this group, and that several of them would be blitzing on his team. When he had been paying attention to the players and not just his own desire to be in the sphere with them, he had seen quite a few of them doing well. He also noticed the ones that were obviously way out of their league, whether or not they could tell themselves. Still, he was glad they had had such a good turnout for the trials; seeing their passion for Blitzball strengthened his own. _And who knows, even the ones that aren't very good now might get better. Look at the Aurochs…_

He listened to each of the names, and as each one was spoken, the person matching it stood and moved up a few levels in the bleachers. Once all twelve names had been read and all the candidates had moved up, Voight gave a long-winded half-apology and half-motivational speech to those that remained. When he was done, those that had been passed over stood up, one by one, and walked away. Most left without a word and only hung their heads, but a few emitted some choice expletives before storming off. Some members of the crowd also shouted out when they realized their favorite didn't make the cut, but fortunately no one came after them. 

Tidus shook his head. He loved the game, and was used to spectators behaving badly when their team was losing. But when players themselves took losing so seriously that they'd act like that, it made his blood boil. One thing he had been taught, not by his his father but by another man that had been very important to him over his life, was that you take your wins and losses the same way: gracefully, and with dignity. Not that he didn't like to celebrate a little after a win, he remembered with a light chuckle.

Once the last of the rejected players had left the arena, Voight said, "We want everyone back here at 4 o'clock for training. Don't get too confident, though. Only seven of you will make it onto the team, so you need to stay on the sphere. Then once we've chosen the team, you'll be expected to work even harder. Are we clear?"

Everyone gave his or her acknowledgements. "Good. See you all at four."

As the players got up and started toward the locker rooms, some of them looked up at Tidus, giving him gestures of support or waving and shouting at him. Tidus waved back and gave supporting comments, but couldn't keep his eyes from wandering toward one of them.

Number eighteen, Celia, looked as if she was doing all she could to avoid glancing up at him. When she finally turned her head his direction, even at the distance, he felt she was looking straight through his eyes. His heart jumped in his chest, but before he could do or say anything, she had turned down the stairs toward the lockers.

Tidus sat down and rubbed his forehead. _The hell am I doing? Am I some kid with a crush or something?_ For a brief second he remembered that he was _technically_ still a teenager. But it had been a long time since he remembered having _felt_ like a teenager. _Not after the things I've been through lately. C'mon, man, pull it together._

"She's a looker, ain't she?"

Tidus looked over at the other judge, occupying the chair on the opposite side of Voight's empty seat. He looked middle-aged, with a graying beard and a stomach built from a few too many sweetened pastries. "Yeah," Tidus replied absently.

"She's good, too. If, or rather," he winked, "_when_ she gets on the team, a hot girl like 'er will really bring in the crowds. 'Specially the guys." The judge smirked. "Heh, and they were sayin' you'd bring in the chicks. Between the two of ya's, we got ever-one under sixty covered."

Tidus chuckled mirthlessly. That judge was, from what Voight told him, the new team's coach. The man obviously shared more of Voight's passion for Blitzball the business, than for Blitzball the game. Exactly the kind of coach Tidus had hoped not to get. "Great," he replied.

"Hey, T, you should be more excited," Voight said, appearing from behind him. "I've seen you looking at her, and she's been looking back, even when you don't notice."

"Whatever, man," Tidus said. Part of him hoped, even wished, that it were true. _After all, she did kind of come on to me yesterday on the ship…_

Just then another part would scold him for even allowing himself to feel that way. Yuna was the woman he loved. Yuna was the woman with whom he was truly connected. And she was the one that he'd travel a thousand years into the future, if necessary, to find.

*  


Tidus launched himself toward the top of the sphere, fluttering his legs rapidly. When he reached the surface, he drew in a big breath and looked down at his watch. _Just under 10 minutes. Not bad, but it could be better._

"Hey, T!" 

Tidus turned his head down to see Voight waving at him from the judges' booth. He ducked back into the water and then swam down toward that edge of the sphere. He stuck his head out of the water, treading laterally to keep himself stationary.

"It's almost 4," Voight said. "Most of the folks are in the locker room and eager to go. How about you?"

"I'm ready to go, man! Feels great to be back in here again!"

"Glad to hear it," Voight said as Tidus leapt out from the sphere and landed on the bench, splashing some water on the Blitz commissioner. "Ah, jeez…" Voight said, breaking his usually cool demeanor. He flung his hands in the air, trying to shake off some of the water.

Tidus laughed. "Hey, c'mon. You wanna stay dry, get out of the stadium!"

Just then, he heard loud, excited chatting from nearby. The candidates were filing back into the stadium, excitedly conversing amongst themselves. "Hey, you guys ready to blitz?" Tidus shouted. They all offered a resounding affirmative. "Then let's go!" With excitement, he leapt back into the sphere, blitzball grasped tightly in his hands.

"Wait a…" Voight started, his hands up. Before he could get out another word, the candidates gave war whoops as they followed Tidus into the sphere.

Tidus smiled as the candidates all swam in to join him. Once they had gathered around, he held up three fingers and pointed to the goal behind him. _If they've been paying attention, they'll know I want three of them to guard the goal,_ he thought. To his delight about half of them swam toward the goal behind him. _Oh well, seven's cool too._

He then pointed at three of the remaining candidates and beckoned them near. When they were close enough, he checked over his shoulder to make sure none of the defenders were spying over his shoulder. Then he gave each of the three volunteers hand signals telling them what he wanted them to do. They weren't official Blitzball signals; they'd have time to learn them if they were chosen for the team. Instead, he gestured to them where he wanted them to go, and what pattern to follow. _An easy Glenns Rush,_ he thought. _I learned this when I was nine._

They all nodded understandingly, and Tidus hoped they actually got it and weren't just humoring him. He clenched his fist, raised it, and pulled it downward, in his own gesture for "victory". As the rest looked on, the three with Tidus split apart and took their positions. Tidus studied the defensive line, feeling a sudden tingle in the pit of his stomach when he saw Celia directly ahead of him, glaring menacingly.

He grinned slightly at the soft-featured woman's game face. If he'd ever doubted that she'd be on the team, he was now convinced that she'd be there. He pulled his head back slightly and then launched himself forward, the blitzball tucked tightly under his arm. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw his teammates launching into their own maneuvers, for the most part following his silent directions.

Celia and a muscular man that looked about twenty swam toward Tidus, intent on stopping him. Before they could reach him, forcing him to break, he passed the ball down and to his left. To his surprise, the teammate that had worked his way to the left side of the sphere caught the fast pass and skipped past a slightly dazed defender.

Just then, he felt something graze his arm. He glanced behind him and saw Celia looking back at him, her eyes much softer than they were seconds before. He realized that her bare arm had brushed against his, and that she had done it intentionally. As he watched her, he suddenly heard the buzz of the goal warning. He looked forward just in time to see the glow of the goal ring fading, and the goalie disappointedly retrieving the ball. He cursed himself for not paying attention to how his teammates had made the goal, but reminded himself that Voight and the other judge probably had watched and made good note of it.

He glanced back at Celia, who was suddenly ignoring Tidus once again as she swam past him toward her position. He raised his eyebrows at her sudden change, wondering if there was more to Celia than he knew. _Mood swings or something? Or maybe she just really gets into the game?_

One of his teammates tossed him the ball. As it sailed toward him, there was a loud crash, as if a wall of the stadium had been knocked down. The water amplified the noise, and everyone in the sphere threw their hands to their ears, wincing in pain. The ball that had been flying toward Tidus smacked hard against his arm and rebounded away, but he ignored the sting on his skin. 

They all looked around for the source of the ruckus. Some of them started in shock, and then swam quickly away from their positions. Tidus squinted to focus on what had spooked them, and then just barely avoided expelling the air from his lungs in a cry of surprise.

Coming from the right side of the sphere were a trio of sahagin. They were amphibious fiends that appeared to be fish cross-bred with humans, and he remembered them to be particularly aggressive and territorial. _Where the hell did_ those _things come from?_ he thought frantically.

He held his position as he watched most of the other blitzers swim away madly, leaping out of the sphere onto the bleachers. A few, however, had been ambushed by the fiends and were unable to escape. He noticed Celia wrestling with one of the "fish men", trying to force it to release the foot of another player.

_Dammit! I wish I had my…!_ Tidus heard a splash above him. He looked up, expecting to see more fiends descending upon him. Instead, it was a long white object, spinning end-over-end toward him. _That looks like…_

He held out his hand, and caught the hilt of the tool that had once helped him tremendously, not only to save his friends, but to free his father from eternal bondage.

It was his Caladbolg sword, as radiant and glimmering as it had been when he had first unleashed its powers. He didn't waste any time wondering where it had come from; he instead swam toward the sahagin, swinging the sword menacingly. The fiends, seeing him threatening them, immediately released their prey and swam toward him.

_Oh, man,_ he thought. _This is just getting too weird._ Now facing down all three sahagin, he charged the fiend in the center, slicing it in half with an upward stroke of his blade. The fiend disappeared in to a dozen small points of light that floated up toward the sky.

One took a swipe at him with clawed fins, but Tidus deftly dodged and cut down that, and then the third, beast. Both vanished into pyreflies, just as more sahagin entered the water up ahead.

_Where the hell are they coming from?_ he thought. He glanced around to see that the rest of the players had fled the sphere, except for Celia. She stared surprised at Tidus. He gestured wildly at her. _What are you doing? Get the hell out of here!_ He signaled for her to follow him, and they both shot toward the water's vertical surface on the left side of the sphere.

The burst out of the water, flying in an arc over to the bleachers, and landing in just enough time to hear the roar of even more fiends out in the open air. Tidus scanned all around and saw various monsters attacking players and spectators as they attempted to flee. At that moment, he heard public warning sirens outside, alerting of the sudden incursion.

_Too late for that,_ he thought.

"What the hell's happening?" Celia shouted. To Tidus, she sounded more angered than panicked. Tidus instantly admired her; he had only become brave against fiends by fighting countless numbers of them while in Spira. Before that, he probably would have fled like almost everyone else was doing. The judges' box and the bleachers were mostly empty.

He counted at least a dozen fiends inside the stadium, harassing and threatening any people that hadn't already escaped. "You better get out of here, Celia!" He started running toward a particularly large nidhogg, a lizard probably five times the size of a human, towering over a young man crouched down on a bleacher. The young man was feebly shielding himself from the creature with his arms. Others were not faring as well against the fiends.

_Dammit,_ he thought. _I've gotta be faster!_ Then, on a hunch, he shouted, "Haste!" Suddenly, as a yellow light surrounded his body, everything slowed down around him. The roars of the fiends and the cries for help all lowered in pitch as everyone's movement decelerated.

Everyone's except for Tidus', that is. He found himself still moving at normal speed. He shook his head incredulously. _My magic still works?_ Not wasting any time, he swung his blade and slashed the nidhogg just as it was about to bite down on its prey. It reared its head back in slow motion, and then fell onto its side, vaporizing into pyreflies before it hit the bleachers.

Without delay, Tidus sprinted toward another fiend, this one a raldo that had just rammed a young woman into the wall. As she crumpled down in agony, he thrust his sword into a joint in the creature's thick armor, immediately inflicting a fatal wound. _Thank God Kimahri showed me_ that _trick,_ he thought.

Once he'd yanked his sword out of the dying monster, he skidded to a halt next to the fallen woman. Another young man had stopped his flight to help her, and was kneeling over her.

Her eyes were rolling around in her head, and her eyelids struggled to stay open. He could tell she needed immediate medical attention. Tidus asked the man, "Can you get her to a hospital?"

The man looked up slowly at Tidus, and, drawn out and low in pitch, asked, "Whhhaaaat?"

Tidus bit his lip. If his magic worked once, it ought to work again. "Curaga!" he shouted. White energies surrounded the woman, and were quickly absorbed into her skin. Her eyes stopped lolling and gradually focused on him. Not wasting another second, he said, "Haste!" As yellow magic surrounded the man, his movements suddenly sped up, coming into sync with Tidus'.

"What the…?" the man started.

"Get her to a doctor!" Tidus implored. "Just go!" As the confused man picked up the young woman, Tidus spun around to choose the next person that needed his help.

What he saw shocked him. Celia, moving sluggishly like everyone else, was hurling a blitzball at a bandersnatch fiend that had cornered one of the players. The fiend turned its attention to her and swiped with its razor-sharp claws. Celia took a hit in the forearm, but was undeterred as she struck back with a kick to the fiend's chin.

"Are you nuts?" Tidus shouted to her. Then, cursing under his breath, he shouted, "Haste!" He hoped his magic could cross the distance between them.

More yellow energies leapt from the ground and surrounded Celia, and she instantly began moving at Tidus' speed, easily dodging the now slower swipes from the wolf-like creature.

"Celia!" Tidus shouted over the roars and screams. "Help everyone else get out of here. And be careful!"

Celia, showing surprise over the sudden change in her surroundings, nodded apprehensively. "O-okay! Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tidus replied as he beheaded another bandersnatch that was stalking a young boy along the lower levels of bleachers. 

*  


Tidus burst out of the stadium just as his Haste spell wore off. He was just in time to see dozens of fiends swarming all about the local district Tifa, and dozens of police and military guards fighting them off. He remembered that fiends didn't usually venture into the cities, and when they did it had always been only one or two of them at a time. This time, though, it appeared there were far more than the defenders could handle.

"Oh, man," he muttered. "And I sent all those people out here! Shit!" After refreshing the Haste spell on himself, he sprinted toward the nearest herd of beasts that had so far fought several police officers to a standstill. He was able to take out the smaller, quicker fiends without much trouble, and then seriously injured the larger, more armored ones. Then, hoping the cops would be able to at least hold their own against the wounded animals, he headed on toward the street where more fiends were pouncing on people.

As he worked his way away from fiend to fiend amid human screams, beastly roars, and gunfire (all slowed to half-speed), he continually watched the situation around him unfold. His actions seemed to be helping, and he was glad for it. He just hoped that the monsters were concentrated in this area and weren't infesting the whole city.

_I don't think I can fight that many,_ he thought grimly.

"Tidus!"

It was a female voice coming from the direction of the stadium, but it sounded at normal speed to him. Spinning around, he saw Celia running toward him, still carrying the blitzball she'd earlier used as a weapon.

"Hey, Celia! Where's everyone from the stadium?" He switched his sword to his left hand, giving his right a short rest.

"The locker rooms." She skidded to a halt next to him, catching her breath. "It's pandemonium out here, so I took them down there and barred the locker room doors shut."

Tidus sighed in relief. "Okay. I don't know what the hell's happened, but I'm trying to help them beat these things." He held up his sword, now streaked with the blood of multiple fiends.

"Where did you get that, anyway?" Celia asked, reaching out to touch the red-stained blade.

"I…I don't…I'll explain later. Look, I've got experience fighting these kinds of things, okay? Just go somewhere safe and stay there," he pleaded, despite the nagging feeling in the back of his head that she wouldn't listen.

Confirming his instinct, she replied, "No way. I don't know how you made everything move slow like this, but I'm gonna help you!"

Before Tidus could argue, something suddenly leapt up from behind Celia. Although it was only moving at one half its regular speed, the flying fiend still rose quite rapidly and caught Tidus by surprise. He grabbed her shirt and pulled her down just one second before razor-sharp wings sliced the air across where Celia's head had been.

She was startled but recovered quickly. In a fluid movement, she rolled onto her back and flung her blitzball at the beast. The ball sailed through the air faster than the fiend could glide away, and struck it directly in the abdomen. The fiend listed to the side, flapping its wings feverishly, trying to recover its equilibrium from the blow. As it did so, it slammed into a building, shattering several windows in slow motion and denting the metal framework. The barbs on its back dug into the building's metal and held the fiend fast, despite its continued twisting and wing flapping.

"Hey, good shot!" Tidus shouted. He turned back to Celia, and noticed her movements had slowed down dramatically. 

She slowly turned her eyes to him and started, "Tttthhhhaaaatttt wwwwaaaassss aaaa cccclllloooosssseeee…."

Tidus did not even have a second to contemplate refreshing her Haste spell before he was struck hard from behind. He flipped over Celia and landed on the rigid asphalt face up. Stars jumped across his field of vision, and he was stunned both by the suddenness of the blow and the new pain in his head and back.

"Ttttiiiidddduuuu…" he heard, and then a muffled thump. Straining to move his head, he saw Celia now lying on her back and a Chimera fiend leaning over her, its lion and snake heads each baring their fangs while the eagle head cried out at her.

"Nooo!" Fighting the disorientation and nearly crippling pain in his entire body, Tidus jumped to his feet and slashed wildly at the monster, immediately severing the snake head. The fiend cried out from both remaining heads just long enough for Tidus to slash at the monster's chest, pouring his entire being into a single blow.

The force of his strike flung the monster away from the prone Celia and into a pair of bandersnatches that had wandered nearby. As he stood over her, he shouted, "Curaga! Haste!"

Beams of light surrounded Celia, and as they disappeared, she blinked and turned her eyes to him. "Thanks," she breathed nervously.

Tidus collapsed to one knee, barely keeping himself from falling face-first onto the asphalt by leaning on his sword. The world was starting to spin, and Tidus realized with dread that he had probably suffered a concussion. He'd gotten them before, and knew they were serious.

"Are you okay?" Celia asked, immediately rising and trying to prop Tidus up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied, trying to push himself up to his feet. The motion caused his head and spine to throb, and he felt stomach acid boil his way up his throat. He did all he could to swallow it back down. _Yeah, it's a concussion._ "Curaga," he murmured.

Nothing happened. He felt a familiar tingling in his fingers that often happened when he tried to cast a spell but didn't have enough energy left to do it. _Dammit, I'm out,_ he thought, just as his legs started to give.

Before he could fall, Celia caught him in her deceivingly strong arms and propped his arm up over her shoulders. "C'mon, I gotta get you to a hospital," she grunted, leading him away from the police-fiend battles. Tidus just barely held onto his sword, dragging it noisily on the sidewalk. Celia looked down at it. "Give me that." She held her free hand out.

"No, I gotta help…" he started, before the pounding in his head shut his mouth for him.

"You've done a lot," Celia replied, taking the sword from him. She held it up, both to defend them against any stray attacks and to admire it. "So where did you get this, anyway? Or learn to fight like that? Or get those powers to heal people and slow everything down and stuff?"

_I can't think straight right now,_ Tidus mind chastised her. _I don't have time to explain. And…_ "You wouldn't…believe me…if I told…you…" He felt himself beginning to grow drowsy. He fought that urge with every ounce of strength he wasn't using to will his legs to move him forward. He didn't want to slip into another coma, and he knew that was probably what would happen if he let himself doze off right then.

"Stay with me," Celia commanded as she practically dragged him down the sidewalk, fortunately managing to avoid any fiend battles they came across. "Just hang on, I'll get you out of here."

*  


As the workmen in Tidus' head continued beating his brain with their sledgehammers, Celia tried several different office buildings up and down the street, looking for some refuge. Most doors that hadn't been smashed down were locked and/or barred tightly shut, any occupants ignoring her knocking and shouts for help.

Finally, just as their Haste spells wore off, they happened across a building entrance set further back from the sidewalk that wasn't locked and appeared intact. "Pray there aren't any fiends in there," she muttered to Tidus as she pulled the metal-and-glass doors open. Spotting a sofa inside, she led him there and laid him down. Then, she ran back to the door and jammed Tidus' sword through the door handles, and subsequently rushed behind the abandoned reception desk opposite the door.

"Come on, come on," Tidus barely heard her over the blood pumping through his ears. "Yes!" she shouted. She leapt over to him, a small red and white case clutched in one hand. She popped it open on the floor and removed a small vial of liquid. After breaking the cap off, she held it to Tidus' lips. "Come on, Tidus, try to swallow this. It'll help with the pain and get you through until we can get you a doctor."

His physical strength having all but left him, only sheer willpower allowed Tidus to comply. The liquid was bitter and, gagging, he nearly choked on it. He forced it down his esophagus and made it stay in his stomach, amidst coughing spasms that radically increased the pain in his head. Once he was sure he wouldn't vomit it back up, he asked, "What…was it?"

"Acetophenylacetate 25," Celia replied. "It's a pain killer and general healing agent."

Tidus' drooping eyes gave her a questioning glance.

"I'm in medical school," Celia replied. "Well, at least I was, until it was blown to pieces." 

_In the attack, I bet._ "Sorry," Tidus breathed.

Celia shrugged. "Nothing I can do about it. That's why I came here. I transferred to the med school here in Tifa just before I came on the ship with you. I can't start classes until I can pay for them, though."

Tidus remained silent, focusing every bit of his strength in just staying awake.

"Hey, uh, I'm, sorry that I've been kind of avoiding you," Celia said. "It's just, I had a scholarship to the Zanarkand School of Medicine, and when the school was gone, so was my scholarship. They didn't have enough scholarships at Tifa for me, and I didn't have a job, but since I played Blitz in my old school, I figured I might be able to afford my new school here if I got a position on the team. And when you told me you were judging the trials, I just didn't want to do anything that would risk my being disqualified. Like fraternizing with one of the judges or something like that."

Tidus nodded slowly, only half-comprehending her words. Either the concussion or the drug was drawing his mind away and making it harder for him to stay conscious.

Her voice grew a bit quieter and more cautious. "But, maybe if, you know…"

Just then, there was a roar that rattled the walls. Celia jumped up and gasped. Tidus tried to lift his head, but being unable to do so, instead aimed his eyes at the door. There was some kind of large creature outside the metal and glass doors, and it looked like it was pressing against them, trying to get in.

Tidus raised his hand and muttered, "Sssswoorrd."

"I can't get it, it's barring the door," Celia replied nervously. "Gotta be something around here…" She ran around the room, searching for some kind of weapon. Tidus, on the other hand, was spending all his energy trying to sit up. If this fiend was going to tear him to pieces, he didn't want it to happen while he was lying down.

As the fiend clawed noisily at the door, he tried to shout out to Celia. _Get out of here! Don't worry about me. Just go!_ But his voice wouldn't work. Realizing his body had nothing left, he lay back down and allowed his eyes to close, taking some solace that, even though he was going to die, he'd be unconscious when it happened.

As he felt himself fading away, he heard a loud crack, like gunfire. The scraping of the fiend's claws ceased immediately. Then, a few seconds later, there was a rapping at the door.

Celia gushed, "Oh thank God!" He heard her light footsteps on the carpet moving toward the door. Metal scraped against metal, and a door squeaked open.

"Is anyone else in there with you?"

"Yeah," Celia replied. "He's over there, and he's injured. I gave him a dose of APL 25, but he needs to get to a hospital now."

"I'll call for a medic, but it might take some time to get here."

"No, he needs to go now, if you can help me. He's got head and spinal trauma and multiple lacer…Tidus!"

With extremely detached senses, he felt a hand slip underneath his head. "Tidus, don't go to sleep! Stay with me, okay? Stay with me!"

He poured all his strength into one final effort. He opened his eyes just enough to see a fuzzy silhouette of Celia's chest, before his fatigue finally won out and he slipped out of consciousness.


	6. The Hero

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all related characters and indicia are owned by Square Enix. The author of this fanfic is making no money from the publication of this work.

Chapter 5: The Hero

Tidus elbowed the defender hard, knocking him out of the sphere into the stands. The crowd roared as he smirked confidently and then swam back to his position.

One of his teammates shot him the ball. He caught it and, using his head, ejected it out the top of the sphere.

_They're gonna love this_, he thought smugly. _And I'll blow those Duggles right out of the sphere._ He shot up after the ball, flying out of the water like a rocket. When he reached the ball, he kicked his legs, flipping over so his head was down and his feet were up, ready to kick the ball.

Then he completely forgot about performing his Sphere Shot. At the edge of the city he could see some giant object…it looked to him almost like a huge ball of water. Worse, there were bright beams of light coming from the thing, heading straight toward him! He gasped, and as he started falling, he grabbed frantically for an exposed metal frame in the stadium's open ceiling.

He cried out as his weight nearly broke his grip on the studded girder. Then, the girder shook under his hands, nearly locking him loose again. He heard hundreds of people screaming below, a second before the public warning sirens started wailing. He looked down and saw the stadium was starting to collapse, and that the sphere itself was breaking up.

_Oh God oh God oh God_, he thought, his heart racing. _I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!_

At that second, another blast rocked the stadium. The girder from which he'd been hanging broke away from the roof and, with no handhold left, Tidus fell. His stomach flew up his throat, and he almost vomited.

Then he felt a sharp pain in his tailbone as he struck something hard. He yelped in pain and swallowed his stomach, just as he began to slide down the bent rafter on which he'd landed.

He grabbed for it wildly, but the smooth metal was slick from his wet gloves. He had only another second to contemplate his demise before he again fell.

This time, he fell for several seconds longer, but it was closer to an eternity to him. When he finally hit bottom, whatever surface he'd struck collapsed underneath him, slightly cushioning his fall. He cried out in pain, having felt the bones in one arm snap. He tried to focus his eyes, but a pain in the back of his head made it difficult. He turned to his left arm and gasped as he saw it lying at a strange, unnatural angle. He tried moving it, but that only caused it to explode with added pain.

He opened his eyes just in time to see a large chunk of ceiling, with a circular piece cut out of one corner, fall toward him. He screamed, fearing that it would crush him to death. Instead, fortunately, the ceiling piece fell so that it smashed his remaining arm and his legs, but missed his torso by inches.

That didn't matter to him. The pain was so excruciating that he couldn't even cry out. His throat ran dry as tears poured from his eyes. _God please make it stop_, he thought. _Please just let me die God it hurts it hurts IT HURTS!_

He forced his eyes open one more time to see even more ceiling debris falling toward him. The combination of intense fear and pain finally won him over, and before the debris could hit him, he blacked out.

There was a loud crash around him, but he could only hear it. He felt nothing.

VVVVV

Tidus gasped loudly and tried to sit up. A bout of nausea made him think twice, and he fell back onto the bed. His eyes fluttered open, blurry against the dark room. He was extremely tired, but he forced his eyes to remain open. He didn't want to be unconscious again. He didn't want to die this time.

_This time? But…that wasn't how it happened!_

He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his eyesight. He could barely see his body, but it was neither encased in scrap metal, nor broken into unrecognizable pieces. His body was draped in hospital bed linens, and didn't appear to be much worse for wear.

He wiggled his fingers, seeing them move at either side of his body. As he wiggled his toes, he could see the far end of the sheet move in time with his expectations. Aside from a peculiar numbness in his limbs, they felt fine.

His head was another matter. It was just starting to throb, robbing him of his strength and threatening to send his stomach's contents up his throat.

He looked over at the left bedrail. A small button glowed on it, and although he couldn't see clearly to tell what the symbol on it depicted, he instinctively brought up his hand and touched it with numb fingers.

A moment later, a young woman entered the room. "Mr. Tidus? Are you awake, sir?"

Tidus opened his mouth to reply, but found his throat dry and scratchy. He managed to breathe, "Yes" in a raspy _sotto voce_.

The room lights brightened slightly, but it was enough to force Tidus to squeeze his eyes shut. He heard soft footsteps approaching him, and a female voice said, "You've sure taken a beating these past few weeks, haven't you?"

"What…happened?" Tidus asked, disorientation still weighing heavily on his brain.

"You don't remember?" asked the nurse, her voice concerned. "I'll have the doctor come talk to you and make sure that isn't amnesia."

He heard a beep to his left, and a warm sensation flowed through his body. His headache vanished almost instantly, replaced by a kind of euphoric contentment.

"Remember…stadium…coll…apse," Tidus recanted.

"The stadium collapsed?" asked the nurse, incredulous. "I heard there was a little damage, but not that it collapsed." Then, she clicked her tongue. "You mean the stadium in Zanarkand, don't you?"

_Zanarkand?_ he thought. _Zanarkand stadium collapsed. But I got out in time…or did I?_ He reasoned that whatever painkiller the nurse was administering must have been muddling his thoughts. _I remember falling from the ceiling, but I managed to slide all the way down on a bent girder. I didn't fall hard on the ground, and I didn't break anything._

Then again, it had only been a couple weeks since he had been found, all four limbs broken, clinging to life, in a pile of rubble. _But I escaped and went with Auron to…_

To what?

We ran across the city, but got pulled in by Sin anyway. Yeah, that's what happened! I must have just dreamed what everyone here thinks happened.

"Head…feels…weird," Tidus slurred, his body not able to catch up with his mind.

"Well, you had a pretty nasty concussion, but now that you're conscious, you can get treatment for it." She stepped out of the room, leaving Tidus alone with his own swirling, disassociated thoughts.

Though his body felt numb, he easily remembered the horrifying pain. It sent twinges up his arms and legs just thinking about it. _Amazing I survived that_, he thought. _Wait, no, it didn't happen, remember?_ He shook his head a bit, but that movement made him extremely dizzy. He shut his eyes to ease the disorientation from the spinning room.

_Gotta…keep my head straight. Yuna. She was in…Spira. Sin attacked Zanarkand, took me to…_

"Sir, I need you to sit still, all right?"

Tidus opened his eyes to see a man and a woman, both in white lab coats, standing over him. The nurse was at the foot of the bed holding an antigrav tray steady.

"Wh…wha?" he managed, the room still swirling in front of his eyes.

"I'm going to give you a mild stimulant," the female doctor replied. The male doctor had his hands on Tidus' shoulders, obviously trying to keep him still. Not that he had much energy to move anyway. "It'll keep you conscious while we fix the damage from the concussion."

He felt a mild prick on his neck, and then a warmth flowing out from it through his body. He opened his eyes wide, suddenly feeling more aware. The room was still spinning, but he was now more awake to witness it. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep from vomiting.

Then, he felt a cool device being placed on his forehead. As it hummed to life, he immediately felt the dizziness wash away. He opened his eyes, to see the two doctors looking down at him. A few minutes later, the device beeped, and the female doctor removed it.

"There," she said. "That should get rid of all the symptoms within the next six hours. We couldn't do it while you were unconscious, because there was the risk of it putting you into a coma."

The male doctor removed his hands from Tidus shoulders, and he immediately sat up. "Wow, that's a lot better."

The male doctor looked at the female, who gave him a strange look. Then, she smiled warmly and said, "Looks like you'll be just fine. Are you up to having any guests?"

Tidus sighed and laid back down. "Is it a guy with a beard?"

"No, it's a young lady, about your age."

Goosbumps covered Tidus arms. Celia was there? Had she been waiting the whole time?

"Do you want me to let her in?"

"Uh…uh, yeah, sure," Tidus stammered.

"If you need anything, just call the nurse," the female doctor said, and she, the other doctor, and the nurse left.

Tidus brought his hand to his forehead and felt it slick with sweat. _Oh, man, I must look like hell._

"Tidus?"

He turned his head to the door. Celia was poking her head in, a cautious look on her face.

"Hey," Tidus said. "Come on in." He started to sit up, but when he realized his gown was wide open on the sides, and that he was wearing no underwear, he quickly covered back up.

"How are you feeling?" Celia asked, sitting down in the chair next to his bed.

Tidus shrugged. "Fine. Whatever the doc did helped a lot."

"That's good," Celia said, leaning over the bed. Tidus nervously slid away, but Celia insistently swiped away some of his hair to examine a spot on the top of his head. "Looks like the bump healed. I figured you had a concussion, with how you seemed a few days ago."

_A few days? God, I'm spending more time knocked out than awake!_ "Well, I did. At least that's what they said. I'm feeling a lot better now."

Celia's eyebrows furrowed as she looked into his eyes. Tidus felt the goosebumps return to his arms. As he looked into her eyes, he suddenly noticed that, once again, one was blue, the other green.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Huh?" Tidus asked, mentally shaking off the hallucination. Celia's eyes returned to their normal blue.

"They said they saw you awake a few minutes ago, and they immediately gave you the treatment before you could go out again."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Tidus replied. "What's wrong?"

Celia removed her hand from his head and leaned away slightly. "Well, nothing, I guess. Just…I never heard of anyone recovering from a concussion, even with a meningeseal treatment, this fast."

"Uh, yeah, what you said," Tidus replied, the word soaring over his head.

Celia gave a slight chuckle, her mood lightening. "That's a little device that they put on your head to force your body to fix any tears in the sac that protects your brain. They have to do it when you're conscious, because if you're not, it can shut your brain down even further and put you into a deeper coma. But it usually doesn't work this fast…" She trailed off, pursing her lips as if in deep thought.

_I healed fast after I got pulled out of the stadium wreckage, too_, Tidus remembered. _How, though? That's gotta be proof of my magic, or something. Maybe if I…_

"How does your stomach feel?" Celia asked.

Tidus instinctively put a hand to his abdomen, and realized suddenly that he was quite hungry. "Starving, I think."

Celia remained silent, but studied him up and down. In his thin hospital gown, Tidus felt very self-conscious being examined by a girl he barely knew, medical student or not. Especially since he knew he was probably emaciated from a few days' worth of not eating.

"You don't even look like you've been sick," Celia replied, as if reading his mind. "Most people that have a concussion like that, even after the treatment, still look pale and don't have much energy for at least a few hours. Especially after the meningeseal. But you don't even look like you've lost any weight."

Tidus shrugged. "Maybe I just ate a really good meal before I got in the sphere that day."

His levity only slightly curled up the corners of her mouth. "Oh well, I guess it's not a big deal. You look great."

Tidus rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed. Why was it that he had no trouble showing off to crowds of screaming girls, but this one always made him shy?

Celia sat down. "Thanks for saving me back there. I don't know how you did what you did, but when you healed me and made us move fast like that…you're really a hero."

Tidus chortled and turned away. "Yeah, I guess."

"Not just to me, you know," Celia continued. "To all those people you helped, and for everyone in Tifa. You stopped a lot of those fiends from wreaking more havoc on the city that they already had."

Tidus' eyes widened. "Oh yeah, I forgot! What happened to the town? Was anyone else hurt?"

Celia shook her head. "Believe it or not, you were one of a handful of people injured, and nobody was killed. Everyone's glad for that, especially since they think it was a Djose attack."

Tidus expression melted. "Bevelle let fiends loose in Tifa? Like Seymour did in Luca?"

"Sey…who? In where?"

Tidus bit his lip when he realized what he'd let slip. "Uh, never mind."

Celia examined him with a critical eye for a few seconds, and then shrugged. "Well, anyway, they failed, and a lot of people are saying it was because of you. There are a lot of rumors and tall tales going around, but I doubt people know that more of them are true than are exaggerations."

"Like super speed and stuff," Tidus replied wryly.

"Yeah, among other things. Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone what I saw you do," Celia winked. In that wink, Tidus could have sworn he saw a glimmer of something more than just gratitude.

"Anyway, people have been lining up when they found out you were being treated here. You've got a lot more fans. I couldn't even leave the building after I brought you in, because they might not have let me back in to see you."

_See me?_

Just then, the door opened and a nurse popped her head in. "Excuse me, Mr. Tidus? Since you seemed to be feeling better, I brought you something to eat." She held a tray on which sat several white plastic containers, a couple steaming, but each containing some type of mystery liquid.

"I'd probably best go," Celia said, standing up.

"No, you don't have to," Tidus protested, sitting up and holding up his hands.

"I should." Celia's face was, somehow, within a foot of Tidus'. "I have to find the Commission and let them know how you're doing. If I get a chance, I'll come back before you're released."

Tidus glanced at the food tray, grimacing at the unpalatable, cloudy containers labeled "soup". "Well, if you do, can you bring me a cheesb…"

His request was cut short when Celia suddenly pressed her lips to his. His eyes widened again, and then closed. In the second that the kiss lasted, he felt an intense warmth flow through his body, filling him with a sense of contentment he'd been lacking for a while now.

Celia ended the kiss, pulling away. She opened her eyes slightly, as did Tidus. Then, before Tidus could even breathe, she came in for another, deeper, more passionate kiss. Tidus felt her tongue probe his lips, sending shivers down his spine. Yet he was so taken off-guard that he couldn't even think to return the gesture.

Once the second kiss ended, Celia quickly turned away and slid out the door. Tidus just stared at her back until it disappeared into the white corridor beyond.

When he finally looked away, it was to the nurse holding his food tray. She looked at him longingly with a combination of envy and disappointment, and set his tray down gently.

"Well, I guess that answers the 'girlfriend' question," the nurse uttered before leaving the room rather quickly.

VVVVV

Tidus stepped out of the hospital with Voight and his secretary, and immediately they were overtaken by the cheering crowd. Tidus waved at them, and then said to Voight, "Man, this is just happening too much."

"Well, next time," replied Voight with a sly smile, "don't rescue the city."

Tidus laughed as the crowd of people chanted his name. Police officers were holding them back, but several of _them_ were even waving at him as they shouted their thanks.

The three barely made it into the limousine, and once the driver shut the door, the vehicles soundproofing cut off the clamor completely.

"You know, they're probably going to start begging you to run for office," Voight said as he pulled out a bottled water from the cooler.

He handed one to Tidus, who just shrugged. "Nah, I don't really like politics." He opened the bottle and took a sizeable gulp.

"Your popularity is soaring," Voight secretary, Jaina, interjected. "Before Tuesday's attack, your first five games were already sold out. Now it looks like the whole season will be gone before the end of tomorrow."

"And that's not all," Voight said, his eyes gleaming. In them, Tidus could almost swear he saw money symbols. "All the networks are begging for interviews, and they're willing to pay top dollar for them. And the merchandising…"

Tidus' attention slipped away from Voight's excited rambling. All this talk about merchandising and fame and everything was dragging down his mood. In a past life he would have been thrilled to death for this kind of popularity, but now it only served to depress him.

If he had to have fame, there was only one woman he wanted to share it with. And she was a thousand years away.

"Tidus."

He sighed. Things seemed to be moving on around him, and he was being swept along with them. It was like a huge river that he couldn't seem to pull himself out of.

"Tidus?"

It was a female voice calling him. He looked over, and his jaw dropped open.

It was Yuna, sitting in the limousine right in front of him. She was wearing a professional outfit, the kind an office worker in Zanarkand or Tifa would wear, but there was no mistaking her different-colored eyes and straight, light brown hair. She smiled warmly at him.

"Yuna? Is that you?"

"Tidus?"

"Yuna…how did you get here?"

"Excuse me, what?"

"How did you get here? There were only three of us…"

Tidus blinked, and Yuna was gone. In her place sat Jaina, Voight's secretary, staring at him with a furrowed brow, her mouth hanging open. Tidus turned to Voight, who likewise stared silently at Tidus. "I…I, uh…" Tidus stammered, unable to find the right words to explain himself. He didn't even know what to explain.

Voight pressed an overhead button. "Frader, stop at the office first, please."

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Tidus tried to speak up, but Voight raised a hand to stop him. When the limo finally landed, the driver came around and opened the door. "Jaina, please go check on that press release and make sure they have it ready in a half hour. Make sure they emphasize how Tidus heroically, and without any regard for his own safety, chased the fiends out of the stadium and away from the fleeing spectators. I want to have our press conference during the 5 o'clock news."

"Yes, sir," Jaina replied hesitantly, sliding out of the hovercar without looking back at Tidus.

"Freder, take us to Chuppa Beach and back. Don't stop there, just go for a drive. And take the scenic route."

"Yes sir," the driver said as he closed the door. Within thirty seconds, the car lifted off the ground and headed away from the Blitzball Commission offices.

"Voight, I…"

Voight raised his hand, stopping Tidus. Voight then said, "T, this isn't the first time you've done that. I know you, and I know better than to think you're playing some kind of game. You're hallucinating."

"I…I'm not…" Tidus started, but he couldn't finish. He knew he was hallucinating, but it hadn't happened in a while. Like the aftereffect of a bad dream, he thought it had just faded away.

"T, you've been keeping something from me. Something you probably want to tell me, or at least _somebody_, but you're afraid to. Well, I want you to tell me. Not just as your Blitz commissioner, but as your friend." Voight stared intently at Tidus, his eyes almost pleading.

"You wouldn't believe…"

"Try me," Voight interrupted firmly.

Tidus sighed. He supposed there was no way out of this. "Okay, all right. You're not gonna believe me, but I guess I wouldn't either." He took a deep breath. "On the night we were playing against the Duggles, Zanarkand was attacked. But I didn't go through what you remember. It wasn't Bevelle, or Djose, or whatever the hell you call them. It was a creature. Huge, almost as big as a city. Called Sin."

Tidus described his entire experience to Voight, from his initial assimilation into Sin, to his pilgrimage with Yuna, Auron, Wakka and the others. He explained his discovery of how he had been a dream of the fayth based upon a person that had existed in the real Zanarkand, and how the attack from Bevelle had destroyed the real Zanarkand and changed its people into the fayth. He told how they destroyed Sin, how he began to disappear when the fayth were sent to the Farplane, and how he passed through it himself before waking up underneath the rubble of the Zanarkand stadium.

Voight listened intently to the entire monologue, not interrupting or looking away at any time.

"And then I woke up in the hospital, and met you," Tidus finished.

Voight watched him intently for a few seconds, making him uncomfortable. Finally, the commissioner nodded and said, "So what you're saying is, we're all dreams?"

Tidus shook his head in frustration. "No, I told you, all the dreams were based on real people that lived a thousand years ago. I mean today…now. And that's where I think I am. Inside the body of the Tidus that really lived."

Voight crossed his arms pensively. "But if what you're saying is true, then shouldn't Zanarkand have been completely destroyed, and everyone killed, in Djose's attack?"

"Well, I don't know, they probably didn't know exactly how everything went. Maybe there's another attack coming, and that's the one that…"

"But you mentioned," Voight interrupted, "that they said Zanarkand was a city of summoners and wizards. T, I've never heard of anyone named Yunalesca. From what you've said, I should have."

"I…I…I can't explain that," Tidus stammered. "I don't know."

Voight sighed. He reached into a cabinet under his seat, pulled out a shot glass, and peeled off the sealed lid. Then, after quickly downing the amber liquid contained therein and examining the glass, he said in a low, flat voice, "Tidus, I'm going to suggest something, and please don't think I'm dismissing you, or that I think you're crazy or anything. But have you considered the possibility that…maybe that was all a dream you had when you were lying, injured, underneath the rubble of the stadium?"

"No!" Tidus retorted right away. "It was real!"

Voight set the shot glass down on the armrest. "T, think about it please. Which sounds more believable? That this world is all a dream of some wizards that lived a thousand years ago, and the real world is some idyllic, nature-loving world terrorized by a huge flying creature with godlike powers? Or, that you were severely injured, dying, and having a dream about all that, and you were rescued and are now living in the real world?"

Tidus opened his mouth, but could find no words. Voight was wrong. He _had_ to be. Spira was real. He _knew_ it.

_Magic_, he thought. _I can use magic! Where did that come from, if it wasn't Spira?_

"I want you to take a few days off from practice," Voight ordered, before Tidus could reply. "You need to get some rest. You've been through so much the past couple weeks that I think it's getting to you."

"Voight, you were my friend, you gotta believe me!" Tidus pled.

"_Were?_"

Tidus' mouth hung open. He hadn't meant to say it in the past tense, even though that's how it was. It just slipped out. It was the _truth_, but he hadn't meant to…

The car jarred slightly as it set down. Voight steepled his fingers and pressed them to his lips. "I _am_ your friend, T, and that's why I want you to get some rest. Clear your head. Go back to Zanarkand if you want. Get comfortable in your new houseboat."

The driver opened the door. "But I'm also talking as a Blitzball commissioner," Voight continued, "and if you start hallucinating during practice, or even worse, during a game, your fans will start to think you've lost it. Everything you've built up over the years, trying to get out from your father's shadow, trying to bounce back from your injuries, all that will be gone. And I won't be able to get it back for you."

Tidus dropped his head. He felt betrayed, worse than he ever had before. He'd managed to alienate the closest thing he had to a friend in this world; the fact that the friend was Voight only depressed him further. And if Voight didn't believe him, who would?

"Drop him off at the hotel," Voight told the driver as he got out of the limo. "T, please get some rest, try to sort things out. There's a ship back to Zanarkand tonight and another in the morning. Take a week if you need to. The team can train fine without you, and you'll be back in plenty of time for the first game. Don't do it for me, do it for yourself. Okay?"

Tidus shrugged. "Whatever."

Voight stepped away from the car and the door closed. As the limo lifted away from the office building moments later, Tidus watched the buildings begin to move past him outside the window.

He pounded his fist into Voight's seat. _I_ know _I'm right. Voight's only interested in his cut. I'm interested in my_ life. _And I'm not going to give up._

No matter what he or anyone else says, I'm going to figure this all out.

VVVVV

Tidus sat on the bed and stared at his image the large mirror on the opposite wall. He looked exactly the same as he had weeks before. Same hair, same clothes, but completely different place.

He was in his own time, but he felt like a stranger in his own home. Or was it even his home? He couldn't be sure any more.

The visions of Spira had slowly subsided since he'd woken up in the hospital, up until that one in the limo. Voight and his secretary both thought he was a lunatic. Now even Tidus' blitzball career, which he had spent years of grueling training to build up, could be in jeopardy.

As he watched the mirror, he scratched his head. The image in the mirror did the same, but a half-second later.

Tidus dropped his hand to the bed, and the mirror image followed, again delayed by a half second. He stood up, staring at the mirror. "What the hell?"

Then, to his surprise, the image of himself winked and tilted its head toward the door. At exactly that moment, there was a knock at the door. He turned his head just as his heart leapt into his throat, but when he looked back, the mirror stared right back at him. He raised his hand, and the image did the same at exactly the same time. He lowered it, and again the image did the same in perfect sync with him.

There was another knock. "Uh, just a second," Tidus called, nearly tripping over his shoes as he headed for the door.

When he opened it, his breath jammed in his throat. There before him stood a young woman, light brown hair falling around her head with a slight curl on her left side. On her right, a handful of strands were drawn into a series of beads and rings. Her right eye was green, her left blue, and she wore a white, flowing top over a black bodysuit. Covering her legs was a blue traveling dress over black boots.

Just as he'd remembered her.

"Hi," Yuna said in her normally shy manner, her hands folded in front of her. "Can…can I come in?"

Tidus blinked at her for a second, unable to believe his eyes. Finally, he stepped aside and said, "Uh, oh yeah, sure!"

Yuna stepped inside slowly, and Tidus followed, closing the door behind him. Yuna looked around the hotel room and giggled at the clothes and personal effects strewn about.

"Heh, sorry 'bout the mess. Had trouble finding my toothbrush." Tidus rubbed the back of his head.

"It's okay," Yuna said. "My room was always kind of messy too."

They stood there in uncomfortable silence, neither really looking at the other. Tidus in particular felt uncomfortable, because he'd half-expected Yuna to grab him in an embrace as soon as she'd seen him. But maybe she felt as uncomfortable with him at this moment as he did with her.

Or maybe it was just another hallucination.

Finally breaking the ice, Tidus asked, "So, uh, how'd you get here?"

Yuna looked at him with a smile, shrugged, and said, "How else?"

Tidus nodded, not understanding at all, but not wanting to break the tenuous reunion. After a few moments, Yuna said, "Look, um, about the hospital…" She broke off, not finishing her thought.

Before he could ask her to continue, Yuna flung herself on him, gripping him in a tight embrace and pressing her lips hard against his. His eyes opened wide for a second, and then closed as he wrapped his arms around her.

She felt exactly as he had remembered: demure, yet so desperate for the human feelings that she'd denied herself that she threw all of her being into the embrace. Tidus was more than happy to comply. All he had wanted since he had first woken up in the hospital was to see her face, hear her voice, feel her touch.

He lost his balance a little and backed into a wall, making the lithograph prints jingle against the plaster. Yuna broke the kiss and looked into Tidus' eyes, a great sense of relief radiating out from her. She then slid her head to the side of his, caressing his cheek with her own.

Tidus' heart was beating rapidly now, so excited was he. He could smell her, God, he could _smell_ her. He filled his lungs with the aura of flowers that always seemed to surround her, even when she'd been soaked with her own sweat after emerging from a Cloister of Trials. His breath caught in his throat when he felt her breathing on his ear. She whispered, "I've been waiting so long for this."

"So have I," he replied, barely able to keep his speech straight. He felt her hand pull the front of his shirt out of his pants, and then her silky soft touch on his bare chest.

His hands caressed her bare back, sneakily sliding underneath her bodysuit. She felt so warm, so alive, so real.

Yuna pulled back just enough to look Tidus in the eyes. Hers were so full of longing, of desire, that they made his own desire intensify dramatically.

"I've loved you so much," she said, before drawing him into another deep kiss.

_I've loved you since I first saw you_, Tidus thought, though he couldn't find the voice to say it. Instead, for the first time since he'd left Spira, he let himself go.

VVVVV

Tidus awoke slowly, peacefully, his world finally complete. Somehow, Yuna had found him. Across a thousand years of time, she had come back for him. Even if they couldn't get back to Spira, he could at least live happily now that Yuna was with him.

And he would never let her go.

As she lay on his chest, he felt the warmth of her skin press against him, drawing him into a chi of protection that no mythological creature, no hostile army, no swarm of fiends could break.

He heard a yawn and looked down. It was the middle of the night, but the moonlight coming in through the thin opening of the curtains gave just enough illumination for him to see her silhouette. At this moment, he felt he could do nothing else but stare at her for the rest of his life, and he would be happy.

She purred, nuzzling against his chest. Tidus ran his fingers through her hair, thanking whatever God was out there that He had finally brought her to him.

"Hmmm, hello," she said. Her voice sounded a little different to him, but it didn't surprise him, as she was just waking up.

"Hi," he swooned, kissing the top of her head.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Oh, now who's that so late at night?" Yuna breathed, starting to get up.

Tidus groaned, "Probably Voight. He's the only one that'd call me this late." He reached over for the phone, but couldn't find it with his hand. "Can you see the phone?"

"No," Yuna replied, getting off the bed. "I'll get the light."

A second later, he heard a switch click, and he squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden brightness. "Yow, that's bright!"

"Sorry," Yuna replied. He heard her pick up the phone, and she said, "Hello? Uh, sure, he's right here. It's for you."

Trying to force open his eyes, Tidus reached out. Yuna placed the receiver in his hand, and he put it up to his face. "Hel…w-wait." He pulled the receiver away from his face as a sinking feeling entered the pit of his stomach.

As a male voice on the phone said, "Hello? Hello? T, you there?" he realized a sickening truth. There were no telephones in Spira!

"Yuna, how do you know how to use a phone?"

"Huh?" he heard both from the phone and the woman standing before him. Then, the woman asked, "Wh-who's, uh, Yuna?"

Tidus gasped and froze. Despite the uncomfortable glare, he opened his eyes wide. Standing there before him, fully naked and with a confused, crushed expression on her face was the blonde, blue-eyed Celia.

Tidus' hand went slack and the cordless receiver fell onto the bed, bounced off it and the nightstand, and came to rest on the carpet. He stared, his stomach twisting in knots, at Celia's face.

_Did…did I…did we just…oh my God…_

"Who's Yuna?" Celia asked, a lone tear running down her cheek.

"Oh my God," Tidus muttered. "Oh my God," he repeated, louder. He jumped out of the bed, to which Celia shrieked. She backed off, grabbing a bedsheet and hastily wrapping it around herself.

"D-don't…don't hurt me please…" She held up one hand to defend herself.

"Oh my God oh my God oh my God," Tidus repeated, quickly snatching up a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from the top of the dresser. "Oh my God I'm so sorry I didn't mean to…to…"

Finding himself without any more words, he threw on the shorts and shirt and ran out of the room. He didn't care that it was his room he was fleeing, or that he was barefoot. He just needed to get away, quickly.

He sprinted down the hall, muttering incessantly to himself, "Oh my God Yuna I'm so sorry I didn't know I thought she was you oh God what have I done I'm so sorry I'm so sorry…"

He skidded to a halt at the door to the stairs. He threw himself through the door and bound down the steps, not even caring how fast he went. A thousand thoughts rushed through his mind: how he'd betrayed Yuna's love, how he'd just destroyed Celia, how he'd just given himself to someone without stopping to think who it really was, and how much he wanted to die at this moment.

Suddenly, he felt as if his wish had been granted. His foot found a wet spot on the tiled steps, and he slipped, flying through the air. He fell face first toward the landing, half hoping he wouldn't be seriously hurt, and half-hoping he'd break his neck. In the space of a millisecond, the latter seemed preferable to him.

The floor seemed to approach him in slow motion, and as it did, events of his life flashed before his eyes. How his father taunted him and his mother practically ignored him during his childhood. His stardom in Zanarkand, his rescue by Rikku and her Al Bhed crewmates, and the game at Luca. His moonlight meeting at the pond with Yuna, and the final battle with his father inside Sin. Interspersed with those images flashed pictures of Yuna's face, so filled with desire, and Celia's, washed over with hurt feelings and fear.

With a crunch, his face struck the floor

VVVVV

He practically jumped out of the bed with a shriek. Hyperventilating, Tidus looked around him, expecting to see yet another hospital room.

Instead, it was his hotel room. The twilight sun peeked through the curtains, adding illumination to what was already provided by the bedside lamp. He looked himself over and saw that he was fully dressed, just as he had been several hours before.

He looked around the room, and saw only his own clothes and personal items spread about. The bed underneath him was made, although slightly ruffled from his having thrashed about on top of the covers.

Tidus turned back to the mirror. Suspiciously, he waved his hands around. The image in the mirror made the exact same movements at the exact same time. He dropped his hands to his side and took a deep breath, trying to calm the pounding of his heart in his ears.

_Was it all a dream? Yuna…Celia, I mean, all of it?_

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Tidus jumped so hard he fell on the floor. Once he was able to gain his bearings, he stood, headed for the door, and opened it.

There stood Celia, her hands folded in front of her, with a look of trepidation in her blue eyes. Instead of her normal Blitzball outfit, she wore a long flowing blue dress, a necklace of some exotic gemstones, and gold-trimmed sandals. "Hi, Tidus."

"H-hi," Tidus managed. His mind was moving at such a breakneck pace he was afraid he'd pass out. _Did I see the future? Is this what was supposed to happen?_

"Can I come in?"

"Uh, I, uh…" Tidus stammered. "Uh, I don't think this is a good time. I, uh, just threw up." It was not a complete lie, as he felt like he was about to do that right in front of her.

"You threw up?" she asked, worry in her voice. "They shouldn't have released you! You're all pale! Let me take a look at you." She reached for his face, but he backed into his room, closing the door. Celia's fingers barely pulled away before being crushed between the door and the jamb.

"I-I'll be okay," he managed as he bolted the door. "I just need to be alone for a while."

"Tidus, why are you shutting me out? Is it because of what happened at the hospital?"

Tidus leaned against the door, trying desperately to keep the contents of his stomach down. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears threatening to drip from them. _Please just go. Just leave, Celia. This is too much for me._

"I want to help you!"

_Please. Please please leave. Please go away. Please._

He waited there for a few minutes, leaning hard against the door. He heard no more voices from the other side, the eerie silence only broken by the faint sound of leather insoles lightly ripping from bare feet, repeating at a slow pace. When the sound was long gone and he was finally satisfied that she was nowhere near, he slid down onto the floor, clutching his knees to his chest.

"What's happening to me?" he asked the empty room, burying his face between his knees. The only answer he received was the light blowing of cool air from the floor vents.

He was afraid, very afraid, that he was losing his mind. Was Voight right? Was Spira all just a dream he had while he was buried under tons of steel and concrete, his body broken and his mind trying to keep him from experiencing the madness of waiting to die a slow, painful death?

_Then where did the sword come from? Or the magic I used against the fiends? Were those hallucinations too?_

_Or will I wake up tomorrow and find out that those fiends were all just a dream, too? _

His exhausted mind could make no sense of anything anymore. Tidus just sat there, his knees pressed against his face, wishing he could make some sense out of anything.

At this point, he couldn't even be sure that anything was real.


	7. Shattered Reality

Disclaimer: _Final Fantasy_ and everything related is the property of Square Enix. This is a fan work and is not done for any capital compensation.

Chapter 6: Shattered Reality

Tidus stared at himself in the mirror. The locker room was empty, the team having gone up to the stadium to practice over an hour earlier. Voight and Coach Garvin had chosen the eight team members from all the candidates, and had the roster delivered to him at his houseboat in Zanarkand. 

Despite the disoriented state of mind that had persisted even after he returned to Tifa, he managed to recognize most of the names on the list. Celia, of course, was on there, which was probably the main reason he had snuck into the stadium during practice and stayed in the locker room alone. 

He was afraid. Afraid of seeing her again. 

He still hadn't sorted out what happened that night a week before, but he was pretty sure it had all been a dream. Very realistic and downright terrifying, but only a dream. Yet that dream had also made him realize something. 

Had he not had the dream, he might have invited her into his room that night. He could have hallucinated and thought she was Yuna, or he could have seen her for who she was and invited her in anyway, if only intending to talk. But would he have done with her what he did in the dream? Even if only in the heat of the moment, would he have abandoned Yuna to satisfy his emptiness with a woman to whom he was attracted, but had only just met? 

She had shown up in a quite provocative outfit that she may have intended to be seductive. Thinking back, he feared that she was indeed attracted to him more than she'd let on, and wanted much more than just a kiss. 

Before he had gone to Spira, he would have jumped at the chance to get into a relationship, even if only physical, with one with whom he shared a mutual attraction. But now…now that his soul had become linked to Yuna, he couldn't even think of being with anyone but her. Even if it meant waiting his whole life, he would wait for her. 

_Then why the dream? Was…was it a warning, maybe?_

He shook his head. He had to try to put it out of his mind. Right now, he had to head up to the stadium for practice. He had never been late to a practice before, And Voight was probably on the verge of calling out the Army. He just didn't want to face Celia yet,not until he'd had a chance to prepare himself. He wasn't sure if she'd hate him, avoid him, or come to him sympathetically, as if he'd still been under the influence of some anesthetic from the hospital. Hell, as far as I know, that could have been the truth. 

But he knew one thing. He couldn't let himself slip again. He had to remember Yuna, and the fact that she wasn't really here. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted, and had to stay alert so he could see through any more delusions. Even if that meant turning Celia away and breaking her heart, he wouldn't dare betray Yuna, pr himself like that again. 

With a heavy sigh, he turned toward the door and headed out of the locker room. Summoning up all his skills, he was able to, at least on the surface, calm himself and regain his usual confident, cheerful facade. 

No sooner did he enter the sphere chamber than the dozens of fans watching the practice turned to him and begin cheering, ignoring the other players already in the sphere. 

VVVVV 

Tidus dodged the defender's blow, channeling all his concentration into making a quick dash toward the goal. The opposing defenders swam wildly to catch up with him. While they were Tidus' teammates, each knew that if they could beat the great Tidus in practice, _they_ could become the next superstar of the Zanarkand Vibes. However, none were able to match Tidus' sudden burst of speed. 

As he charged toward the goal, he suddenly came to a stop, as if the water had frozen into ice. The stop shocked so much that he nearly exhaled, but his years of mental conditioning helped him keep the needed air in his lungs. 

"You shouldn't be worrying so much, you know. You'll be fine." 

Tidus spun around instinctively, at the same time realizing he was free to move again. There, as if standing in the middle of the water, was the fayth child. Tidus looked around and saw all the other players had stopped, frozen in time. 

_You? What the hell?_ He gestured wildly to the fayth. 

The fayth simply smiled and asked, "What?" 

_Dammit! What the hell is going on?_ Tidus again gestured angrily, doing his best to silently demand an answer. 

Again, the fayth asked, "Speak up, I can't hear you." 

Tidus growled, and then shouted, _"What the hell are you doing here?"_ It took him a second, but it dawned on him that he'd just shouted in the open water, and it sounded like he'd done so in the air. He opened his mouth and took in a shallow test breath. 

He was floating in air! Taking in a breath, he asked, "Well? You gonna answer me? What have you been doing to me?" 

"'Doing to you?'" 

"Yeah! Like when I saw Yuna last night, but it ended up being Celia! And then, afterward…it was like it never happened!" 

The fayth's head bobbed slightly. "What makes you think I've done anything to you? Well, except for this." He gestured around him. "I said I'd be back when you needed me." 

Tidus shook his head. "I don't need you. I just need to get my life back on track." 

"You have doubts." 

"Hell yes I have doubts!" Tidus swung his arm angrily again. "Here I am, back in my real time, where I really lived. But I keep seeing stuff from Spira and…and…" 

"And you think it might have all been a dream." The fayth floated up so he was eye level with Tidus. 

"Yeah," Tidus replied, his head hung to his chest. 

"But you're the dream." 

"Not anymore," Tidus said. "Somehow, I made it back in time, and I'm in the real world. But I…I don't want to be here without Yuna." 

The fayth chuckled slightly. Tidus looked at him with a mixture of confusion and irritation. The fayth then said in a suddenly grave voice, "What if I told you that you never really existed?" 

Tidus shook his head. "What? What are you talking about?" 

"You were always a dream. You never really lived, until I dreamed of you. You need to know that." 

Tidus jaw dropped. "W-what? What do you mean?" 

The fayth made no reply. He just floated there, staring at Tidus from underneath his hooded cloak. 

"Hey, I'm asking you a question! What are you talking about! Hey, answer me!" 

Tidus drew in a breath to continue his tirade at the suddenly tight-lipped child, but the air was much thicker than he expected. It burned his throat and nose as it filled him. 

Tidus realized with horror, just before he began to grow lightheaded, that he had drowned himself. 

As he made that discovery, the blocker that had been directly behind him, and was now right in front of him, slammed into him with full force. The water was expelled from Tidus' lungs, but with no air to replace it, he instinctively dew in another deadly lungful of water. His limbs became very heavy, and he began to feel the world around him slipping away. 

As his vision grew dim and blurry, he felt himself being dragged backward. He just barely sensed a sudden coldness wash over his skin before he came to a stop. His eyes were now completely closed, and he hadn't the energy to open them again. He only heard distant echoes whose origin he couldn't even guess in his dwindling state of mind. 

He vaguely remembered that he had drowned, and again tried to take air in to his lungs. Nothing happened; his chest felt paralyzed. 

_I never lived…no, can't be…have to be…real…_

He felt something being forced into his chest, and hot liquid came up his throat. He tried another breath, but still could do nothing. 

Again, something was forced down into his chest. Using the last of his strength, he assisted in expelling the fluid from his lungs, feeling more hot liquid rush out of his lungs and over his lips. This time, when the pressure was lifted, he was able to draw in a breath. The world abruptly rushed back toward him. 

Shakily, he pushed himself just barely off the ground, coughing up water and gulping down air. Each breath was like the sweetest perfume, invigorating him. 

"You okay, Tidus?" asked a voice in front of him, patting his back as he coughed up more water. He looked up, and although his vision was still somewhat blurred, he saw that Celia knelt before him, her eyebrows raised with worry. She looked up past him and ordered, "Get the medics over here!" 

Shaking his head, Tidus tried to stand. "No, don't get up," Celia implored, but Tidus waved her off. 

"I…I'm okay," he stuttered, his voice almost lost to the phlegm gurgling in his throat. "Did…did you…?" he looked up at Celia as he got to his feet, leaning on someone's arm for support. 

"Yeah," she replied. 

"Tha…thanks…" he started, before he noticed a small figure behind her. He turned to it, and his eyes opened wide. 

The fayth child stood behind her, appearing dispassionate as always. "You," he growled, hacking some mucous from his larynx. 

The fayth looked up at him. "M-me?" 

"Why…did you…do this?" he demanded, taking an unsteady step toward the child. 

"Do…what? I didn't do anything, sir," the fayth said, his voice growing high and squeaky as if with fright. 

"Don't…give me that! What did you…mean, I'm …not real?" He reached out and seized the front of the child's robe. Finding a new strength in his anger, he lifted the fayth off the floor. The fayth kicked his feet wildly, but Tidus held him tightly, increasing rage fueling his arms. "I'm…talking to you!" he sputtered wetly. 

"Tidus, stop it!" 

He saw someone rush at him from behind the child. Without thinking, he stepped to the side and, as the rushing man passed him, he gave a light shove. The man's momentum sent him tumbling down the stands. A pair of wet snapping sounds echoed in the mostly-empty stadium. 

"Daddy!" cried the fayth, looking back and forth from Tidus and the fallen man, who had come to a rest against the transparent shield in front of the bottom row of bleachers. 

"Now, you little bastard…" Tidus growled at the fayth. Suddenly, he felt several strong arms grab him from behind, yanking his hands from the fayth's robe. Then, before his eyes, the fayth's form evaporated upward as a normal-looking child fell downward onto the floor. The child turned and ran, crying loudly in fear. 

"W-wait, he…" Tidus started, before turning back to the people that were holding him back. To his surprise, they were Wakka, Keepa, and Letty. "Hey you guys, how did you…Yuna? No…it's not…" His head was spinning now. 

Behind them stood what looked like Yuna, though Tidus kept trying to tell himself that it wasn't really her. Yuna, staring at him with a combination of fright and worry, put a hesitant hand to her chest. "Tidus, it's Celia." 

"C-Celia?" he asked. As he said the name, Yuna's image melted away to reveal Celia underneath. The three men holding him likewise changed from the players of the Besaid Aurochs to the players of the Zanarkand Vibes. 

He turned back around again, still partially restrained by his teammates' grip. The child was long gone, but two Crusaders were rushing over the bleachers toward the fallen man below. Two more rushed toward him; one held a white box in his hand, and the other a long silver cylinder with a clear face mask attached to one end. 

"Crusaders?" Tidus asked. "No, this isn't right." He coughed more phlegm out of his throat, so violently that it spattered down his chin. 

"What happened?" asked one of the Crusaders as the team wrestled the now-thrashing Tidus to the floor. 

"He drowned," Celia replied from behind him, although Tidus could have sworn it was Yuna's voice. "I performed CPR, but now he's hallucinating. Maybe toxemia?" 

"We'll get him to the hospital. He'll be all right." One Crusader attempted to place the facemask over his mouth. 

"What about _him_?" Celia asked, her voice raised. Tidus turned his head toward her, and saw her pointing toward where the other man had fallen. 

"Compound femoral fracture and head trauma," replied one of the medics below. "We have to stabilize him. Get a stretcher, stat!" 

Tidus shook his head away, still struggling against the three men holding him. "No! Don't…don't do it! Where's the fayth! He can tell you what's going on! Where are you…ah!" 

He felt a prick on the side of his neck. He looked in that direction and saw that the other Crusader was pulling away a needle. He felt a tingling warmth wash over his body, but he fought it as long as possible. "No, don't…I have to…find him…he knows…" 

"My God, Tidus," he heard Celia say through the fog. "He was just a child. And you…almost killed his…his father…How could you?" 

His eyelids grew so heavy he couldn't even think about keeping them open. All feeling left his extremities, and his consciousness was quickly vanishing. 

"He's delirious. We'll get him to the hospital right away." He didn't recognize that voice. 

"Will he be all right?" That was Celia…he thought…maybe… 

"Physically, I think so. But I'd worry more for the man he pushed down." _Who is he talking about? I wonder what it means._

Then, before he could even realize it, blackness took him. 

VVVVV 

The next thing he knew, he was staring up at a ceiling. It was much lower than the ceiling of the stadium, and he heard a rhythmic beeping from his side. 

"He's coming around." A figure appeared over his head. It was someone he'd last seen in a dream, and before that, on the deck of an airship a thousand years in the future. 

Now, Lulu stood over him, her black lips drawn into a cordial, yet dispassionate, smile. "How are you feeling?" 

His throat and mouth were extremely dry, but he managed, "Tired." 

Lulu nodded. "The sedative is wearing off. I'm sorry, but the paramedics said you were delirious. Fortunately that young lady acted quickly and performed CPR, so it doesn't look like there was any permanent damage." 

"Lulu? Where am I?" 

Lulu tilted her head. "You're in Tifa Memorial Hospital. I'm Doctor Merang. I treated you just over a week ago when you had a concussion. Do you remember?" 

"Mer…Merang?" Tidus asked. _Funny, she looks an awful lot like Lulu. She's even wearing that black dress with all the belts and stuff._

"Yes," Lulu/Merang replied. "Do you remember what happened?" 

"I…think so," Tidus replied. "I saw the…fayth in the sphere, and he…he told me I'd never existed. But I know that's not true. The real Zan…arkand was destroyed by…Bevelle, not Sin. And I couldn't be here if I was only a dream." To Tidus it had all made sense, but Lulu/Merang just stared at him. 

A moment later, she nodded. "Well, you'll be here for a little while at least. The sedative probably affected your appetite, but would you like some water to drink?" 

_Water_. Though he'd been surrounded by it his whole life, hearing the word now gave him a twinge of fear. He wasn't completely sure why, but he _did_ know that he was thirsty. "Sure." 

Lulu/Merang turned around, and a few seconds later she produced a plastic cup. When he tried to reach for it, he found his hand wouldn't come up from the bed. He looked down, and saw that it was strapped down. 

"Hey, what gives?" he asked. 

"You were…thrashing about a lot before. It's for your own safety." She placed a straw in the cup, brought the straw up to his lips, and after he took a few sips, she took it placed it on the tray table next to his bed. "I'll be back in a few minutes, all right?" 

"Wait, aren't you gonna untie me?" Tidus asked, his throat feeling much better. 

"I will, I just need to check with the floor manager first. I'll be back." 

"Hey…wait!" He grumbled in frustration as Lulu/Merang walked out the door. Looking around, he recognized the hospital at which he had indeed stayed after his battle with the fiends. _No, that couldn't have been Lulu. It's just like when I saw Yuna all those times._ He sighed. _It's another hallucination. I'm going insane. _

He couldn't deny it anymore. He'd once heard that an insane person can't know they're insane, but he doubted there was ever anyone going through what he was. If he couldn't tell what was real, especially with that fayth playing with his head, how could he function? 

_And then that dream. Or was it even a dream? I don't remember ever going to sleep that night._

He shook his head, which was slowly clearing. _Why am I here? What is going on with me?_

Just then, his door opened. In walked Lulu/Merang, along with a burly-looking orderly and a man in a brown suit with a thin salt-and-pepper moustache. 

"Tidus, this is Doctor Kuban," Lulu/Merang introduced. "He's here to talk to you about what happened, and the things you've been seeing." 

"Hello there," Kuban said gently, as if he were speaking to a five-year-old. "How are you feeling?" 

"Drugged and tied up," Tidus replied with little enthusiasm. 

"Can you remove the restraints?" Kuban asked Lulu/Merang. "It'll be all right." 

After a hesitation, Lulu/Merang nodded to the orderly, who walked over to Tidus. He undid the arm and leg restraints, all the while keeping a sharp eye on Tidus. Once they were released, he took the restraints away and nodded to Lulu/Merang. 

At that moment, a familiar face walked in the door. 

Tidus noticed the new entry and, though he wasn't completely relieved, he did feel a bit better. 

"Hey, T, how are you feeling?" 

Tidus scowled, rubbing his wrists where the restraints had been. "Do you _really_ want an answer to that, Voight?" 

"No, I can imagine." 

"Then why did you have them put me here with restraints?" 

Voight put a hand to his chest. "Hey, I didn't do anything. Didn't they tell you you're under arr…?" He stopped short when Lulu/Merang nudged him with her elbow. 

Tidus turned his gaze to Kuban, and then to Lulu/Merang. "Under what?" 

"Could I please have a few minutes alone with him?" asked Kuban, ignoring Tidus' question. 

Voight started to protest, but Merang put her hand on his arm. After a few moments, she, Voight, and the orderly headed toward the door. Before he stepped out, though, Voight said, "I know you're not crazy, T. But I think you do just need to take some time and rest. Just stay calm, for me? Please?" With that, he vanished through the doorway. 

"So," Kuban started, pulling over a chair before Tidus could even process Voight's plea. "I'm sorry about the drugs and the restraints. Paramedics tend to get paranoid sometimes." 

Tidus shrugged. "At this point, I just can't worry about it anymore. Maybe I did go crazy or something." 

"Now, I wouldn't say that," Kuban said, his voice in a soothing tone. "Don't worry about it. Right now I'd just like to hear what's been bothering you. Do you remember what you did?" 

Tidus sighed. _I hate it when people talk down to me_. "Yeah, I was practicing in the stadium and…and…" _And what?_ He'd decided to skip over the whole conversation with the fayth for now, but when he tried to think beyond it, he drew a complete blank. _Maybe I got hit and breathed in some water. _ "I don't remember. Did I drown? That's happened to me a couple times before, but I never had to go to the hospital." 

The doctor nodded. "Well, that's not important right now. Your friends say you've had some things heavy on your mind lately. Would you like to talk to me about them? I'd like to help, if I can." 

Tidus knew immediately who his "friends" were. _Damn you, Voight._ "If I tell you, you're not going to believe me. You'll put me in a psycho ward." 

"Oh, that's not how we do things," Kuban replied. "All I want to do is help you." 

_Right_, Tidus thought. But he didn't have enough energy to argue with someone that obviously saw him as some sort of lab test animal. "Ok, then. I've been seeing…this other world. And people I knew in it." 

"You knew people from another world? People that don't live in this one?" 

"Right," Tidus replied. "I was there after the attack on Zanarkand, but before I woke up under the rubble." Then, he told the entire story of his adventures in Spira, from escaping Zanarkand to jumping from the airship as he began to vanish. Doctor Kuban seemed enthralled by the story, paying rapt attention to every word. 

"So that's it," Tidus finished, his head much clearer now. "Ever since then, I've seen Yuna, Wakka, and other people both in my dreams, and sometimes when I'm awake. Hell, Doctor Whatsername looks like Lulu, right down to that black dress and the stuffed toy she's always carrying. Even after I know it's not her, she still looks like Lulu. And then that night last week, oh man." He continued on about the "dream" he had about making love to Yuna, and then waking up with Celia, and then waking up again to find none of it had happened. 

"Hmm," Kuban said, scratching his chin. "Do you believe this 'Spira' was real?" 

"Of course I do!" Tidus replied, frustrated. "It even seemed more real than this world does." 

Kuban nodded. "I can't really offer you an opinion right now. I'm going to go back over my recording and come up with a good analysis of it, and I'll talk to you again tomorrow. Meanwhile, sit tight." 

Tidus was surprised the doctor had made a recording, but decided he didn't have the mental energy to complain about. He shook his head. "Not like I have a choice. I'm probably gonna be carted off to the psycho ward now, right?" 

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Kuban repeated as condescendingly as before. "These kind of things are actually pretty common with people that have suffered severe trauma as you have. Several times recently, if I understand correctly." He stood up. "I'll see you again tomorrow." 

As Kuban walked out the door, he was met by Lulu. They had a short conversation that he couldn't hear, and then both stepped back out into the hall, closing the door. 

Tidus flopped his head back onto the pillow. He wasn't sure how or why, but all of reality seemed to be crashing about him. Even more frightening, he couldn't even tell if it was reality, or his own mind, that was losing cohesion. 

VVVVV 

Tidus was back in the stadium, standing in a crowd. Around him he could see a few dozen people, frozen as if the air had suddenly turned to glass. He looked behind him and saw the sphere, the water contained within stopped in mid-slosh. 

As he turned back to the people, he noticed them all staring in one direction. He looked for what they were seeing, and when he found it, gasped. 

It was _him_. 

Seymour was standing there, his right leg extended. Tidus could see that he had kicked a man square in the jaw, sending his head flying back. Then, he noticed that Seymour's clawed hands were wrapped around the throat of a child, holding him a foot or so off the ground. 

"H-hey!" he shouted as he tried to rush to stop the evil Maester. However, he found every muscle below his neck completely frozen. Struggling in vain, he cried, "Let him go, Seymour!" 

And then, without warning, his point of view changed. His own hands were now throttling the child now; the boy's face was turning blue. And yet, no matter what he did, he couldn't let go. Instead, he lifted the child up off the ground, unable to stop the evil-sounding chuckling emitting from his mouth, reverberating in the stunned silence. His claws were digging into the child's throat, rivulets of blood trickling down his neck. 

"No!" came a male voice. He looked up and saw a man rushing toward him. Without even thinking, he brought his right leg up in a quick, powerful kick. There was a wet crunching sound as his heel connected with the man's jaw, and the man flew end over end down the bleachers, smashed through the protective shield at the bottom row, and plummeted hundreds of feet to what Tidus presumed would be his death. 

As if that were not horrible enough, he felt his grin grow wider as he roared with evil laughter. 

_My God, what have I done?_ his mind screamed while his body continued choking the final breaths from the child. 

VVVVV 

Tidus' eyes sprung open, his breath coming in quick bursts. He felt sweat soaking his body and the bedsheets. 

His memories were rushing back to him, nearly putting him into cognitive overload. _My God_, he thought, tears welling in his eyes, _I almost killed that man. And what I did to that kid…_

He looked around him, using the realization he could muster through his grogginess and intense remorse to determine he wasn't in the stadium, or even in the same hospital room in which he'd fallen asleep. 

The ceiling looked like it was covered with pillows. It was splattered with stains of several different colors; he tried his best to not imagine what some of them were. 

As he tried to figure out what had happened to him, he realized that he didn't even remember going to sleep in the first place. The last thing he'd remembered was talking to that bearded doctor… 

"What the…?" he asked, bringing his head up. He felt a strap across his chest that was limiting his movement. "What the hell? Where am I?" 

He checked all around the room, and immediately recognized its distinct differences from his original room. He was surrounded by some kind of cloth curtain, but the voices beyond the curtain told him that the room was much larger than his original one, and was shared with at least four other people. 

"Hey! Where the hell am I?" he asked again, hoping for some kind of coherent response. "Somebody answer me!" 

"Answer me!" mocked another voice in the room. 

"Answer me!" came a second voice, even more mockingly. 

"Shut up you crazy idiots!" came yet another voice. 

"Everyone, quiet down!" That voice, though loud, was much gentler in tone. A second later, Tidus' curtain opened. In stepped a tall, thin yet muscular man in a white coat with an upturned collar. For an instant, the man reminded him of Auron. 

"Who are you? What am I doing here? Why am I strapped to this bed?" Tidus exclaimed a bit more loudly than he had intended. 

"Who am I?" 

"What am I doing here?" 

"I said _shut up_!" 

The man stuck his head out of the curtain, and a moment later the arguments stopped. When he came back in, he wore a disarming, but eerily empty smile. "Sorry, Mr, Tidus, but it's for your own safety. We should be able to take them off soon. As for your other questions…" He pulled up a stool and sat down gently. "I'm Doctor Gram, and you're in the mental health wing of Tifa Memorial Hospital. Doctor Kuban thought it would be best if you were treated here for your post-traumatic stress and induced psychoses." 

"My…what?" Tidus shook his head. "I just want to know why I'm in here with all these nutballs!" 

Gram's face darkened. "We don't use words like that here." Then his countenance softened again as if it had never changed. "This room is only temporary until we can place you with the appropriate team. Kind of a triage unit for mental injuries." 

Tidus had no clue what "triage" meant, but he wasn't particularly interested in learning its definition at this moment. "But I'm not crazy!" 

Gram glared at him. 

"…uh…I mean, I don't have that poster-automatic thing you were talking about," Tidus corrected, his head quickly clearing. "I just need to get back to the stadium for practice. Can you let me go?" 

Gram shook his head. "Doctor Kuban is your primary caretaker here, and he is the only one that can authorize your release." 

"Well then get him in here!" In frustration, Tidus pulled on the restraints. 

Gram stood up carefully, backing away. "I'm sorry, but he's not available right now." He snapped his fingers. Immediately, two large orderlies entered Tidus' private area, one on each side. One pressed his shoulders down onto the bed while the other unsheathed an autodermic needle. 

Tidus mouth fell open when he saw the needle. _How many drugs have they been pumping into me?_ "What…what is that?" 

"Something to help you sleep, so you don't hurt yourself," Gram replied. Tidus could have sworn he heard the doctor then say under his breath, "or anyone else." 

He gasped. He'd never seen a psych ward before, but just his momentary experience in it convinced him it was as bad as he'd always imagined it to be. _And they think I'm crazy enough now to attack them!_

He gritted his teeth when he felt the needle pierce the side of his neck. As an almost stinging warmth entered his body, he cursed under his breath. _If I had a gil for every needle that's been stuck in me since I got back from Spira…_

Then there was nothing. No dream, no feeling, not even awareness. Tidus was out like a light. 


	8. Threads Unravel

Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. The author is receiving no compensation for writing it. Final Fantasy and a related indicia are the property of Square Enix.

Chapter 7: Threads Unravel

"Good morning."

Tidus opened his eyes, and then quickly shielded them from the light coming in from outside. "Wh…what?"

"Time to go."

As his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he was sure he could make out the form before him. It was Auron. Good old gruff, unsent Auron. "Auron? 'Sat you? When'd you get back from the Farplane?"

"What do you know about the Farplane?" Auron replied, puzzled and suspicious. Then he shook his head. "Never mind. Get up. We're leaving."

"Wait, I can't…" Tidus looked down at himself. He was neither strapped to the cot, nor was he wearing the backless hospital gown. He was back in his own clothes again. He surveyed around him, and instead of a sterile white hospital privacy curtain, he was in a makeshift tent. The smell of salt in the air instinctively told him he was somewhere near the ocean.

He looked back up and noticed that Auron had gone from the tent's opening. "Hey…wait!" he shouted, practically falling out of the cot. He scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the tent. Outside stood Auron, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, and Rikku, all facing him.

"'Bout time you got up," Rikku scolded. "We were gonna go dump you in the ocean, sleepy-head!"

Tidus blinked at them for a second, and then shook his head. "No, another dream."

"Huh? You have a bad dream?" asked Wakka.

"I'm having one now," Tidus replied, placing his hand on his forehead.

"What are you talking about?" Lulu asked, her voice as exasperated as it often was when she spoke to him.

"Enough of this," Auron interrupted. "We don't have time to waste."

"Yuna waiting," Kimahri added. He started walking away from the camp down a path. Rikku and Lulu followed, but Wakka and Auron stayed behind, waiting for him.

"Wait, aren't we gonna clean up our…" Tidus started, and then looked behind him. The tent was gone. Only a grassy clearing sat in its place. The dirt path under his feet led straight to Wakka and Auron. Sighing, he followed it.

When he passed Auron and Wakka, they turned and walked with him, flanking him. As he walked, he looked at them. Wakka had his eyes intently on him, while Auron looked straight ahead.

"What?" Tidus asked.

"What, what?" Wakka replied

"Why're you looking at me?"

Wakka's expression didn't change. "Gotta make sure you don't get hurt."

"Get hurt?"

"Sorry we had to strap you in," came a voice from the other side, "but it was for your safety." That voice, however, was not Auron's. Tidus turned, and instead of seeing the face-obscuring collar of Auron, he saw the small upturned collar of Doctor Gram.

"Wh-what?" Tidus asked. He looked back to his left, but Wakka was still there, watching him intently. "Wakka? What's going on here?"

"My name's Firden," Wakka replied. "You don' look so good, ya know."

Tidus stopped walking and shook his head. "No, this is just wrong."

Both men stopped immediately and backed up so they were closely flanking him again. Tidus was still reeling. _Never existed. I never existed._ He noticed his clothes, or lack thereof. He was now back in that ugly, immodest hospital gown. He looked up, but saw he was still on the edge of the campsite, heading for the nearby forest.

"We have to go now, Mr. Tidus," said Gram.

Tidus looked up at Wakka. He still looked the same. Gram, however, looked exactly as he had the last time Tidus had seen him.

"N-no!" he cried out, backing away. His back struck something hard. Looking up, he saw it was a tree, but it felt smooth and cold against his bare back.

"No…" he said, pressing his hands to his face. He sank to his knees, and then to the floor, trying to force his mind to filter Spira out of his current reality.

Or was he still in Spira, and hallucinating about the hospital? He couldn't tell anymore. The sights and smells of Spira and the cold metal feel of the hospital wall and floor both invaded his senses at once.

When he felt hands on his arms, he shook them off with another yelp of, "No!" However, he only cowered a bit, too confused to do much more than draw himself into a fetal position.

Gingerly, but with easy strength, both Gram and Wakka/Firden lifted him up by his arms and led him into another nearby room. Tidus raised his head just enough to see that the room contained a low white bed with an elevated back and arm and leg restraints. He whimpered, but found no fortitude with which to offer any more resistance. There was a cushiony chair next to the bed, and the rest of the room was filled with some sort of cabinets without any apparent doors.

The two men laid Tidus onto the bed, but, to his relief, did not fasten the bindings to his wrists or ankles. Gram sat in the chair, while Wakka/Firden stood closely by.

"How are you feeling?" asked Gram after pulling a small object from an inner coat pocket and placing it on one of the chair's arms.

Tidus sighed and curled into a ball. _I don't know how much more I can take. Maybe I should just sleep and dream some more about Spira._ He made no audible clues as to his feelings, but Gram obviously interpreted his body language.

"I understand, this has all been very traumatic for you."

"Understand?" Tidus asked. "I don't think so."

"Then make me understand, Tidus."

Tidus exhaled deeply and hung his head. He was beginning to hate telling the story, but he supposed there wasn't any choice at this point. He grudgingly narrated to Gram everything that had happened from Sin's attack on the arena to his passing through the Farplane. While Gram was trying to give an air of warm nonchalance, Tidus could tell the eyes behind the dark glasses were examining him intently.

Gram listened to everything Tidus said, nodding thoughtfully. Tidus, for his part, was getting very tired of telling the same story time and time again. _When Auron said, "This is your story," I didn't think I'd have to tell it to every single person in…wherever the hell I am._ Still, he had managed to get the telling itself down to a science, and had figured out which details were important and which ones were best left unsaid. He continued, as if reading a script in his own memory.

When he was finished, his mouth and throat felt very dry. He stopped talking and waited for Gram's analysis. When none came, he rolled his tongue to wet his mouth and said, "Well?"

"Well what?" asked Gram in a smooth voice.

"Just tell me I'm crazy and get it over with. Everyone else in the world has."

Gram tilted his head. "Do you think you're crazy?"

That caught him by surprise. Although he was sure he was being judged again, for the first time it didn't feel like it. "I…I…I don't know, anymore."

Offering a slight smile, Gram replied, "There's an old saying: _'The only people who can't be crazy are the ones who think they are.'_"

"So I'm _not_ crazy…?"

"I'll be honest with you," Gram said, shifting in his seat. "You seem to be suffering from strong post-traumatic stress, which seems to have manifested itself as hallucinations and even some psychotic episodes."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "In other words…"

"You can get better, but you'll need help."

"What…kind of help?" Tidus narrowed his eyes.

"Full psychoanalysis, not just of the time leading up to, and after, the attack on the Zanarkand stadium, but all the way back to your childhood. Also, a regimen of antipsychotics to help reduce, and possibly eliminate, the hallucinations."

"More talking and drugs, just what I wanted," Tidus muttered bitterly.

Gram raised his hand and twitched a finger. The door opened and the orderly stepped back in. He lifted Tidus off the cot and began leading him out of the room.

When they reached the hallway, Tidus suddenly shouted, "No!" He tried to break away from Firden's grip, but the large man was apparently ready for it. He held the struggling Tidus firmly, as Tidus simply grunted and growled.

"Hold him!"

Tidus felt the prick of a needle in his upper arm, and almost immediately his head began to swim. It did nothing to sap his energy, though, so he continued struggling as the world swirled before his eyes.

"Tidus!"

He knew that voice.

It was a female voice, but not just any female's. It was one he knew very well.

At once he stopped struggling, and when the orderly whipped him around, he saw materialize the petite face of a pretty brunette, one eye green and the other blue. She was standing a few feet away, staring into his eyes with a furrowed, worried brow. Despite the distance between them, he felt her small, warm hand reach out for the bare skin of his arm.

Around her was a sterile white hallway, but it was shimmering, as if it were made of water. This wasn't the first time she'd appeared to him in this world, but instead of trying to think through the delusion, his drugged brain let it swallow him for the moment. It was better than dealing with the whole of what seemed to be reality, at least at this moment. Choking back tears of frustration as Firden clamped down on both his arms, he croaked, "Yuna."

Yuna stared at him, her face showing more disappointment than surprise. She then glanced at Firden and Gram before turning back to him. Gram was shaking his head, but Yuna persisted. "No, Tidus, it's Celia. Do you remember me?"

Tidus brought a hand to his forehead and drew in a deep breath. He wasn't sure what he could believe anymore, except that he knew he had something that had to be said. Whether Yuna, Celia, or Seymour heard it, he at least had to get it out of his head. "Ok, look, it doesn't matter which one you are, I just need to talk to you. I think I know what's happening."

"You…do?" The voice sounded cautiously hopeful.

Tidus nodded. "Remember the fayth that gave you Bahamut?" His question was answered with a blank stare. Ignoring it, Tidus continued, "Well, he's been messing with my head. He's trying to convince me I never existed, and he's making me hallucinate to think I'm in some warped version of Zanarkand. From the past," he amended, not sure if it would help.

After a hesitation, Yuna/Celia replied, "But you do exist."

"I know!" Tidus exclaimed, giving Yuna/Celia a start. He felt Firden' ham-sized hands still on his rapidly numbing arms, but he ignored them. Instead, he focused whatever nervous energy he had left into speaking as quickly as he could. "I mean, I couldn't be here if I didn't exist. But why is he messing with me like this?"

"I…I don't know," Yuna/Celia replied truthfully. "Is there some way you can make…_him_…stop?"

"Make him stop?" Tidus squinted at her with utter confusion. "Yuna, he's the one that dreamed me up! I can't stop him!" He'd forced the words out so strongly that spittle formed a slight foam at the corners of his mouth. Firden's grip grew even tighter, and Tidus started to wonder if the orderly planned to tear his arms off.

Yuna/Celia blinked at him. Her mouth moved a few times, but no sound came out.

Tidus shut his eyes tightly and shook his head, trying to wipe his mouth on his shoulders. "No, you're…you said you're Celia. Right. You don't know until you become Yuna. I think."

"Tidus…I…I…" Celia's voice sounded as if she wanted to finish her statement, but she didn't. She simply sighed and hung her head.

"I think it's time to go now."

Tidus looked up at Gram, apparently giving orders to the orderly. However, the doctor's features were slightly different. He had a scar running vertically down his right eye. His glasses, which before were rectangular and clear, were now more oval-shaped and dark. His hair seemed a bit longer, and streaked here and there with gray.

"D-Doctor…Auron?" Tidus asked, his voice almost squeaky with confusion. _Something is seriously wrong here. Either that fayth is still messing with me, or I've really gone nuts._

That thought quickened his breath for a moment, but the ever-spreading drugs took it away almost immediately. He lost control of his legs and felt himself slide down the cold wall toward the floor before the large orderly took up his full weight. He heard Celia gasp in surprise, and he slurred, "No…lemme go…"

"Take him to his room," Gram said with Auron's voice, and together he and Firden dragged a barely-struggling Tidus out of the waiting room, leaving behind a highly confused, nearly-at-the-breaking-point Celia.

They pulled him down the hall. Tidus thought it was a different direction from whence they'd come earlier, but the walls continued shimmering and occasionally taking on the colors of a forest, both of which made it hard for him to keep his bearings. He tried to will his arms and legs into resistance, but as far as he could tell, the connection between his brain and his limbs had been severed. "No…have to find _him…he's_…doing all this…have to find…why…"

As they dragged him down the hall, Tidus spied Voight. Voight, on the other hand, had apparently heard Tidus and the orderlies coming, and had flattened himself against the wall.

"Voight…not crazy…tell them I'm not…"

"Tidus, you need to stay here for a while," came Voight's voice as he gingerly attempted to follow the orderlies. "It's for your own good. We'll… we'll start the season without you."

"Stay back please, sir," said Gram, and Voight stopped following. As he struggled weakly, Tidus saw the man that had been once his friend standing there, in the middle of a shimmering green hallway, staring at him as one would gawk at a circus freak.

A moment later, they dragged him onto a room whose walls, floor, and ceiling were completely covered with some kind of white foam. Tidus stopped trying to force his limbs into motion as he observed the new place to which he'd been taken. His mind growing ever more dull, he wasn't sure whether or not he should be concerned.

Immediately the two men released him and he collapsed onto the cushiony floor. A third then entered carrying a white sack covered with straps. Though he couldn't feel them, he saw his arms being slid into the sack, and then realized that it wasn't a canvas bag.

_A…straitjacket…_

He considered protesting verbally, but his jaw was just a bit more numb than his thoughts, and he could will neither into action. Instead he just moaned, openmouthed, as his arms were wrapped around him. He heard some mechanical whirring, and the jacket tightened around his tingling body.

Two of the men dragged him into a corner and laid him against the wall. Then all three exited the room, leaving him, paralyzed and tightly bound, in the padded cell. He heard the door slam shut and then click.

_I'm in an insane asylum, wearing a straitjacket, in a rubber room,_ Tidus thought grimly, in a sudden, fleeting moment of clarity. _This can't get any worse._

"Hello there."

Tidus couldn't move his eyes. He was barely able to blink, and was stuck looking straight ahead at the opposite wall. But he knew the voice.

"I'd say you're in a bit of a mess," the fayth child continued.

Tidus moaned, half in agreement and half in anger. _What are you doing to me?_ he forced his mind to think.

The fayth stuck his face in front of Tidus', so he could clearly see the knowing smile on the child's face. "Well, I suppose you deserve an explanation now, don't you?"


	9. Lucidity

Disclaimer: Everything Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix. This is a fan work, and is not for any material compensation whatsoever.

Chapter 8: Lucidity

"Where should I start?"

Tidus gave a monotone moan, some drool beginning to drip from the corner of his slack mouth.

"Oh, I forgot. You can't very well manage like that, can you? Why don't you use your power?"

_I can't talk to cast a spell!_ Tidus wanted to cry, but instead he emitted a wet gurgle.

"You don't need magic here," the fayth replied, apparently reading his mind. "Just think about what you want."

_Think about…?_ Tidus thought, and this time, his voice gave a close approximation of the words.

"Think about being able to move," the fayth coached.

Tidus sighed internally. He wasn't in the mood for games, but seeing as how he wasn't going anywhere under his own power, he decided to play along. He imagined whatever drug Gram had injected into him dissolving and his mind regaining full control of his body. Despite the intoxicated fog, his mind's eye could see it so vividly that, if he could close his eyes, it would seem real.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "There, you…" He stopped speaking, and opened his mouth wide. He then closed and opened it in quick succession, testing it. It worked like normal. He looked down at his arms (realizing that he could now move his eyes) and gave them experimental tugs. He could move his arms! They didn't even feel numb!

He looked down at his bare toes and wiggled them effortlessly. Then, bracing his back against the wall, he moved his feet underneath him and stood. Strangely enough, he felt as strong and alert as ever. It was as if nothing had happened to him at all.

"How did you…?" he started.

The fayth interrupted, "I didn't do anything. That was you."

Tidus stared at the fayth. Though he distrusted the ghostly child, he felt at his core that he was hearing the truth. He glanced down at the straitjacket, tugging against it a little more.

"Do you want out of that, too? Then get rid of it," the fayth said matter-of-factly.

Tidus closed his eyes and imagined the straitjacket evaporating from his body. He then imagined himself in his regular clothes. When he opened his eyes, he found not only that the straitjacket was gone, but that his regular clothes were on his body, feeling fresh and dry.

He looked back up at the fayth, who was smirking lightly. "How did I…?" Tidus asked.

"You always could. You just weren't aware of it."

Tidus grimaced. "I suppose I could click my heels, say, 'There's no place like home,' and I'd wake up in Spira, right?"

The fayth shrugged. "You could, but I think you'll want to hear what I have to…behind you!"

Tidus spun around to see two large orderlies, neither looking like any Spiran, inside the room. Both were wielding some nasty-looking shock sticks, their tips spitting tongues of painful-looking electricity.

"Take it easy, Mr. Tidus," one said as they approached him. That one raised his stick, preparing to strike.

Tidus took a step back and shouted, "No!" As soon as the words escaped his lips, the two orderlies winked out of existence.

Tidus gasped, and after a moment of shock stepped forward to where the men had been. He waved his hand in the air they'd occupied, but felt nothing. Not even body heat.

"What just happened?" he asked, turning back again to the fayth. "What did I…just do to them? Are they…dead?"

"They never existed," the fayth replied. "You can do with them as you will, even bring them back."

Tidus shook his head. "Wait a second…What's going on? How'd I do all this?"

"You always could, but as I said you haven't been aware of it until just now. I'll explain, but I think you'd like better surroundings." He gestured to the rubber room, which Tidus agreed was indeed not quite the most calming of settings.

"Well, I guess…" Tidus concentrated, screwing his eyes shut. "In Zanarkand, my houseboat. That's plenty far away for me."

In an instant, the rubber walls melted away. Revealed underneath was the homey setting of Tidus' boat, with his Blitzball paraphernalia and mementos strewn about. Slowly, he opened his eyes and drank in the new setting. He tentatively reached over to his sofa and touched it. The faux suede was cool to the touch and very plush. He pushed down on it, and it resisted like he expected a sofa cushion would.

"It's as real as you make it," the fayth commented.

Tidus shook his head. "You keep hinting at stuff, but you don't give me the real story. What the hell's going on?"

"Would you like to sit first?"

"No."

"All right, then," the fayth replied. "When you and I first talked about your existence, I mentioned that you could become the dreamer. Do you remember?"

Tidus nodded. "Good," the fayth continued. "You started out as a dream. My dream, to be exact. Someone I remember watching play Blitzball so many times. He was better than anybody in the sphere. He was good, and he knew it. But he always had time for his fans. I even got to spend some time helping him practice once. That's why I dreamt of you as you are. To honor who he was, instead of who he became."

"Who he _became_?" Tidus asked, crossing his arms.

"He changed during Bevelle's war with Zanarkand. He was obsessed with…well, that's not important right now; you'll find out sometime soon, I believe."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "You hate giving me a straight answer, don't you? By the way, wasn't it Djose's war?"

The fayth shrugged. "That's a name your mind gave it. I wouldn't worry much about names at this juncture."

"'My mind gave it'? What are you talking about?"

"I'll get there," the fayth replied. "You were the major part I played in our collective dream, the Zanarkand you first knew. No magic, no Summoners, no war. Just a city on the edge of technology where everyone lived a more or less happy life.

"But we weren't happy. We were tired. Exhausted from sleeping, tired of dreaming. Needing to pass on. At the same time, weary of repeatedly lending out our powers to help fight Sin. That is why we sent Jecht out of the dream world into the real one. Just as we gave corporeal status to the Aeons, so did we with Jecht."

"My old man?" Tidus asked, half-sarcastically. "The one who eventually became Sin, you mean?"

The fayth shook his head. "It wasn't supposed to happen that way. He wasn't from Spira. He was tough and intense…"

"You mean bullheaded," Tidus interjected.

"…and was supposed to give a fresh perspective on fighting Sin," the fayth continued, as if Tidus had not spoken at all. "Spira was caught in a downward spiral of death, and was repeatedly only staving off Yu Yevon for another few years while we fayth continued existing, only to lend our powers to the next group of Summoners. It felt as if it would go on forever.

"Jecht was supposed to change all that. We had high hopes, but in the end, he was too afraid to take the chance and go against Sin differently than others had done before. He allowed Yunalesca to change him into a fayth, and as an Aeon he destroyed Sin. Then Yu Yevon possessed him, and the death spiral continued on as it always had."

Tidus crossed his arms and, despite his previous reluctance, sat down on the couch. _My old man was supposed to be Spira's savior, and he failed._

"You were our next hope, and possibly our last," the fayth continued. "You became more headstrong and confident as you grew up, just like your counterpart from the real Zanarkand after _his_ father died in a boating accident."

Tidus shook his head. "Wait a second – I thought you said before that there was no real Tidus from the real Zanarkand."

The fayth tilted his head. "I said things that weren't necessarily lies, but they weren't necessarily truths."

_Wha…?_ Tidus thought

"You did indeed have a counterpart in the real Zanarkand, as I said. His _name_ wasn't Tidus, and he didn't turn out like you did. You are a more idealized version of what he could have been."

Tidus nodded lightly, even though he didn't really understand. He felt a growing queasiness in his stomach. He'd known for a while that he was only a fabrication of the fayths' minds, but he'd somehow gained comfort in the idea that he'd once had a real-life counterpart. The child's attempts at comfort weren't dispelling the depression that was starting to fill him.

The fayth continued, "We allowed your friend Auron to pass into and out of the dream world so he could fulfill his promise to Jecht and teach you to be strong. Being a dead and unsent soul, the task of crossing the dream barrier wasn't insurmountable for him. We decided to try again, and hoped that your connection with Jecht might provide a weakness in him you could exploit.

"We wanted to allow Auron to pull you out with him by his own accord, but Yu Yevon was able to use Jecht's ability as a fayth, and your father's knowledge of the dream world, to enter it and attack your Zanarkand. You escaped to Spira when Sin pulled you into its dream self. It was…unexpected, but once you appeared in Spira alive and well, we were sure we could stop worrying, if for a short while."

"So…so…you knew I was going to beat Sin once and for all?"

"We _hoped_ you would," the fayth replied. "We knew the machina from our time might have had enough power, with the help of our Aeons, to take out Sin and draw Yu Yevon itself out into battle." He chuckled darkly. "If you knew more about the Zanarkand-Bevelle war, you'd see the irony of that situation."

"What do you mean?" Tidus asked, his head beginning to spin. If the fayth was trying to give him straight answers, it certainly seemed that the effort was failing.

The fayth gave another small laugh and shook his head. "Not really important right now, and forgive me for rambling. When we were finally sent to the Farplane, you, like the Aeons, vanished because I could no longer sustain your being. Yet you didn't fade out of all existence. I learned that, because you came in contact with the power of Yu Yevon within Sin, you became much more than a dream. Most people know Sin as a creature of death, but it also had the power to give life."

"_Give_ life?"

"Yes. Your father came into contact with it when Yu Yevon absorbed him, and he also became a living being. But he was sent to the Farplane when Yuna sent Sin, as they were one and the same. You, on the other hand, never died. You, therefore, are alive."

"I'm…alive?" Tidus asked, shooting up from the sofa. "But…but…I saw my Dad and Auron in the Farplane! How can I be…?" Tidus shook his head, trying to process all this information.

"Life is more than a body. You became the dreamer," the fayth replied. "You dreamt up a new body for yourself, and a new world in which you have been living ever since." He spread his hands out, as if gesturing to everything around him.

Tidus collapsed back onto the sofa, at a loss for words. He looked down at it and ran his hand over the material again. _ I created this world…?_ He looked up at the fayth, and then at his coffee table. He imagined a glass of water standing there, and an instant later, a glass appeared filled with water, exactly as he had imagined.

"My God," he breathed. "So…that's why I could use magic, and why my sword appeared that one day when I needed it. And…why I healed so quickly when I kept getting injured."

"Yes. In your dreams, you hold the ultimate power, and since you wanted to heal so badly, you did it quickly. You weren't consciously aware of the dream, so your subconscious mind assumed it was reality and kept you from actively controlling it. Now that you're consciously aware of the dream, though, you are able to mold it at will, much as when you become aware of a normal dream."

"Well, why couldn't you just tell me to begin with, instead of driving me crazy? I wouldn't have had to go through all the accidents and hospital visits and…"

"I tried," the fayth interjected, which silenced Tidus. "I told you _several times_ that you were only dreaming, but from your reactions, it was apparent that you were hearing something different. Your mind wasn't ready to hear it yet, and since this world is entirely composed of your mind, you literally did not hear what I was saying."

Tidus started nodding slowly. "So…_that's_ why you were playing tricks with my head?"

"Yes. You apparently expected me to speak in riddles, and so that is what I did. I figured the best way to get through to you was to plant seeds of doubt. Those, along with your strange dreams, helped your 'living' dream fall apart to the point where you were ready to accept…probably anything I told you."

"I…I've gotcha," Tidus replied, finally feeling as if he were grasping his situation. "So then," he continued, his voice growing lower with concern, "am I stuck here?"

The fayth shook his head. "Not at all. There isn't necessarily a 'here', to be frank. You're in a sort of limbo between Spira and the Farplane. You do have a choice on where to exist, but it is one you can make only once."

Tidus rubbed his temples. This was all too much for him to absorb at one time. "What are my choices?"

The fayth jumped up onto a table and sat down on it, his short legs dangling off the edge. "You may return to Spira, where you may just find your friends waiting for you. You may return to the Farplane with Auron and your father. _Or_, you can remain in the dream world, molding it as you see fit. You can be very rich, popular with the ladies, and never have to deal with hardship or pain again."

Tidus stood up, staring intently at the fayth. "Wait, you said my friends 'may just be waiting'?"

"A lot more time has passed in Spira than in your world," the fayth replied. "It has been over two years since the destruction of Sin."

Tidus eyes opened so wide he felt as if his eyeballs would fall out of his skull. He shot back up to his feet. "Two _years_?"

The fayth nodded.

Tidus opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again. He turned away and skulked toward a trophy display. He pretended to examine the trophies he'd earned in his time in Zanarkand, even though he now understood that none of that had really happened. His mind was elsewhere. _Two years. Are they all still together? Has she…found someone else?_

Then, something else the fayth had said popped into his mind. "You told me I could only choose once. Why?"

The fayth sighed. "Well, though you may dream your own fate, I am your only remaining anchor to that which exists. I don't have much time before I must return to the Farplane, and stay there for the rest of eternity. I used up a large portion of my remaining living strength to find you here originally, and most of the rest of it to keep myself here and watch over you. So, you either choose to use your power to return with me, or I will return alone and you will remain in your own world. You need to choose soon; my extended stay here has drained my strength almost completely."

Tidus didn't even require a second to make his choice. "I want to go back to Spira."

"You are sure?" the fayth asked. "Your friends may no longer be there. Much can happen in two years. You could even stay here, reshape your world to be Spira. It could be like you never left them."

"It wouldn't be real," Tidus replied flatly.

"If you define real as what you see and touch, then it would be as real as you make it."

As he said that, a form appeared before them. It was Celia, smiling happily at Tidus as if none of the recent fiasco had happened.

"Hi, Tidus."

"She's not real," Tidus replied. "My mind made her up. Or was she another person dreamed up by you fayth?"

The fayth tilted his head slightly. "This is your world only. If you didn't know her before you came to Spira, then you imagined her. She _can_ be real to you, though, if you want."

Tidus shook his head emphatically. "I never really wanted her. She's some dream woman that tried to take Yuna's place. I didn't want to let her."

"You did have an…encounter with her."

Tidus frowned angrily at the fayth and threw up his hands in sudden exasperation. "That was an accident! I thought she was Yuna! Besides, it was all in my mind, right? It never really happened!"

The fayth shrugged. "There are those that would say if you imagine doing an act, you are as morally guilty as if you physically commit the act."

"You really enjoy bugging me, don't you?" Tidus asked. As he did so, he turned to Celia. "Go away. You helped me some, but you only made me try to forget Yuna. I don't need you."

Without a word, or even a change in her ebullient expression, Celia vanished.

"I'm just trying to get your mind prepared for the choice you're making," the fayth said. "Don't take it personally."

Tidus turned to face the fayth fully. "I'm going back to Spira. I…I don't care if nobody I knew is there anymore. I…I have to go back."

The fayth let slip the faintest hint of a smile. "Good. Because my being here now is a favor, a granted request for someone that wanted you to return."

Tidus rushed to the fayth, gripping his shoulders tightly. "Is it…is it…Yuna? Is she the one?"

Though he feared the child would give either a cryptic answer, or a flat 'no', the child nodded. "For the past months, she has embarked on a quest across Spira to find you. Most had told her it was hopeless, but she never gave up on you. There were many tribulations for her, some far more difficult than anything she'd ever faced before, but she was alive and well when I left."

Tidus stood up straight. "Well, c'mon! Let's go see her!"

The fayth widely smiled now, hopping off the table. He raised his hand to Tidus. "Take my hand, and imagine the one place in Spira that you would most want to meet her. Hold tight to my hand, and you will make it."

Tidus squeezed his eyes shut. He knew right away where he wanted to be. Besaid. Where he'd first met Wakka, Lulu, and Yuna. It had been the one place that was unspoiled by the ravages of Sin and Yevon. As he gripped tightly to the fayth's hand, he felt as if a great hand had reached into his chest, gripped his heart, and used it as a handle to pull him up and away. Away from his imagination, and toward something he knew was better.

The two of them vanished, and an instant later, the world they had occupied faded into the nothingness from whence it had come.


	10. Epilogue: Rebirth

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fanfiction. Final Fantasy and everything related is property of Square Enix, Inc.

Epilogue: Rebirth

Tidus opened his eyes. The environment was somewhat cool, but not uncomfortable. The pressure on his chest instinctively kept him from taking a breath.

All around him was crystal clear water. A few fish floated by him, momentarily curious, but then swimming on to join the rest of their school.

His instincts directed his face upward. He could see the sun easily through the clean water, and it made him smile widely. _I'm home._ He thought it should have sounded strange, but it actually felt as natural as anything he'd ever said to himself. _I'm home. I'm in Spira. It's my home._

With a glee barely contained, Tidus shot toward the surface. Once his head broke into the air, he looked around and instantly recognized his surroundings. He was in Besaid, just off the ocean shore. It almost felt surreal to him, considering all he had experienced in the past weeks (or, if the fayth had been correct, the past _years_). Yet, he'd been away from reality for so long that he couldn't even be sure he knew what surrealism was.

He then remembered what Yuna had told him what seemed like a lifetime ago: _"If we should get separated, just whistle. I'll come running. I promise."_ She'd been reciprocating a similar promise he'd earlier made to her, but at the time, he feared that a simple whistle wouldn't be enough to call her to where he would be. Now, though, he felt so giddy that he let his self-consciousness and doubt fly into the wind. After all, maybe Yuna really would hear him and come to meet him here. He stuck his index finger and thumb into his mouth and whistled in one long shrill report.

His deep breath expelled, he lay back and allowed his body to float lazily on the water. He never remembered the sky looking so blue, or his heart feeling so warm. _This is no dream_, he thought. He couldn't put his finger on why he was so sure, but he just _knew_ this was real. And he knew he wouldn't find Yuna by floating in the water all day.

Rolling over, he immediately started swimming toward the all-too-familiar beach. Unlike in his earlier visions, the beach was empty. No Blitzball players, just calm mid-afternoon waves lapping against the soft sand. Once he reached the shore, he jumped to his feet and stood at the water's edge, drinking in the scenery, the _reality_ around him. _Man, I wouldn't leave this behind for all the money in Zanarkand,_ he thought. He thanked his lucky blitzball that he had been able to return, seemingly no worse for wear (aside from some none-too-pleasant memories).

As he had that thought, he heard a rumbling from behind him. He spun around toward the ocean and looked up in the sky to see a large airship on approach. It had some vague similarities to the one on which he'd traveled to fight Sin, but with its sleek, swept appearance and cherry-red paint, it looked much more like some type of giant flying hot rod. He especially marveled at the twin rotating steering arms at its front.

Although he had no idea what the airship's purpose was, nor of its crew, he felt no urge to run or hide. Even when it stopped directly overhead and began to descend, he stood his ground. He knew…deep down he _knew_…that he'd be all right.

Then he saw her. He'd dreamt of her so many times over the past weeks that part of him feared this was another hallucination brought on by his lonely heart. Her clothes and hair were different from his recollection, but there was no mistaking her face. The perfect curves of her cheeks. Those mesmerizing eyes…

Without warning, she jumped off the deck of the ship and landed in the soft sand. Despite what should have been a dangerous fall, she stood before him, her boots ankle-deep in the wet sand. She then took off in a run, straight toward him. Prepared for nothing else, he opened his arms and waited for her to fill them. She leapt onto him, grasping him tightly. He eagerly returned the embrace, finding a million words that his throat refused to release.

_What can I say to her? It's been only a few weeks for me, but it's been two_ years_ for her. What…what can close that gap?_

"Are you…real?"

She'd spoken first, and the sound of her voice sent chills through his entire body. He chided himself for ever being tempted by a dream world; this world held the true rewards.

"I think so," he replied, trying to shake off his shock. "Do I pass?" His voice shook, but he made no attempt to control it.

Yuna nodded emphatically. "You're back."

"I am back," he said flatly, as if realizing it for the first time. Yuna pulled away from him and gazed deeply into his eyes. An uncontrollable smile crept across Tidus' face. "I'm home!" he cried, picking Yuna up and spinning her around with joy.

Tears flowing from her eyes, Yuna said, "Welcome home." Tidus let her back down onto the ground, and they immediately pulled each other into a desperate, passionate kiss. Tidus knew at this moment that Yuna had been waiting every second of her two long years for this, and that it must have been even more difficult for her than it had for him.

"Hey! Get a room you two!"

They released their kiss and turned their attention toward the new voice, which came from the inland path. Wakka strode toward them in his normal, cocky, big-brotherly manner, and shouted "Whassup!" Next to him was Lulu, holding something in her arms. Tidus mouth fell open when he realized that she was holding a baby! _Lulu, a mother?_ Tidus felt a twinge in the back of his brain. This situation brought a strong sense of déjà vu, but he tried to suppress it. He had no desire to dwell on old nightmares.

Not too far behind the new parents were the people of Besaid, all waving and shouting their welcomes to him. Tidus smiled. _Now _this_ is the kind of reception I like!_

He heard a _whump_ behind him, and saw that Rikku had jumped out of the airship herself. "Hiya!" He was briefly shocked by the younger girl's clothes (or lack thereof) but waved with a smile, and then turned his full attention back to Yuna and his welcoming committee.

The newly-reunited couple took off toward the crowd, both laughing like gleeful children. "You know, you've changed," Tidus said to her as they jogged across the wet sand. He couldn't help but look over Yuna's new, revealing costume and twin holstered pistols. His eyes followed her legs, very visible through her feathered half-skirt. He marveled at the new curves that had apparently come from two years of maturing, and the muscles that had been tightened and toned through what he guessed were two years of adventuring. He realized that she was now two years older than he, but he had no complaints.

"Well, you've missed a few things!" Yuna replied, squeezing his hand with a strong grip. She was blushing slightly; Tidus guessed that she'd caught him gawking at her.

"I wanna hear everything!" Tidus said just as they reached Wakka and Lulu.

As Wakka took Tidus up in a big bear hug, Yuna replied, "Well…it all began when I saw this sphere of you…"

VVV

Tidus and Yuna had managed to get away from everyone else, and were alone for the first time in two years (according to Spira's time, Tidus had to keep reminding himself). They'd even left Brother behind in the airship, although he had seemed less than thrilled to see that Tidus had returned, and had been trying to draw Yuna away from him during the whole trip. Still, considering the fact that the energetic Al Bhed had nearly slit Tidus' throat at their first meeting, the chilly reception by Rikku's brother gave him little concern. They had managed to convince him to drop them off near the Zanarkand ruins, and to let them make the final trek alone, on foot.

While Yuna hadn't understood why, Tidus had told her that he needed to see it one more time. He needed to remind himself of the emotions he'd felt when he first saw the ruins, before they'd fought Yunalesca. At the time, although he'd been told several times that Zanarkand was gone, seeing the remains of it truly made it real for him. It had almost been as traumatic as when he'd learned that Yuna's pilgrimage was to ultimately end with her death by the hand of her own Final Aeon.

When he met Yuna's motley group of new friends, and then learned that they were part of an organized sphere hunting group, he understood why Yuna had changed so much since he'd left. They seemed to be quite a crew, from the cold Paine to the laid-back but brilliant Buddy. They even had a child on the crew! While he had only heard about a fraction of their adventures together, Tidus was envious that he hadn't been there to join them.

It was those times in particular when he began reflecting on what he'd experienced while they had those adventures. Such a short time for him, but _years_ for them. While those experiences would always haunt his dreams, he was sure that returning to Zanarkand one more time would help put the ghosts to rest, if only for a little while.

Now, on the outskirts of the destroyed metropolis, the two sat silently together. As the sun sank below the horizon, Tidus stood and walked absently toward the city. There was so much he had to tell her. And yet, there was so much that he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to tell her. Did he want to relive the pain he'd experienced in his own little world, a world where he held the ultimate power, but a world without the woman he loved? Did he want to foist that on Yuna, who had been through so many extremely trying ordeals herself?

_Maybe someday, but not today_, he thought with a little self-comfort. Yuna had originally been searching for answers to what happened to him, and now she was concerned with how he had managed to return. While had an explanation, one he wasn't even sure _he_ fully believed, Tidus had decided that Yuna didn't need the fayth's story. It would help if he came up with a premise solid enough to allay Yuna's concerns, but vague enough to not be a lie. At least it would help his _conscience_ a little, until the time was right to give her the whole story.

"I got a theory," he broke into the silence, without turning from the sunset. Yuna, her eyes on him, listened intently. It was all he could do to avoid looking back at her, because if he did, he was afraid that he might not be able to continue with his flimsy explanation. "I…think the fayth gathered up my thoughts and put 'em together to bring me back." _Not necessarily a lie,_ he thought. _ That could be how it looked from the fayths' end._ "Maybe. Something like that."

He looked down at his hands. They felt so real, but then again, so had they in the dream. Could he be sure this wasn't yet another twisted figment of his imagination? "Or maybe…I'm still a dream." He caught himself from pondering anything more, afraid he'd already said too much.

"Wait!" Yuna said, and he heard her jumping to her feet. "So…you'll disappear?"

Tidus squeezed his hands shut. As a quick experiment, he concentrated on his hands, willing a flower to appear. If he were dreaming, then he could at least give the imaginary Yuna a gift.

Nothing happened. He gave a slight smile. _If _this_ is a dream, then I want to stay asleep forever._ "Cherish me, Yuna. And I'll cherish you. All right? We gotta stay together. That's what we have to do." _That's the only way we'll know for sure it stays real._

His heartbeat quickened when he felt her arms come around him from behind. Her warmth soothed any doubts his soul may have held. Still, goosebumps scampered up his arms and down his back. Although the air was balmy, he trembled in her embrace.

"Is that what the fayth told you?"

Tidus smiled wider. _Sounds like something he'd say, doesn't it?_ "Nah. But I like it."

Yuna let out a laugh, and Tidus quickly followed, his nervous energy flowing out from his chest. It had been so long since he really felt like laughing, he had a hard time remembering…

Suddenly, he felt himself being shoved from behind. Caught off-guard, he lost his balance and tumbled into the water before him.

As he extricated himself from the cool ocean, he retorted, "That's not cherishing!"

Yuna smiled slyly at him. "You didn't disappear."

Tidus couldn't help but smile back, and raised his hands in glee. Yuna certainly had changed. Much less demure than he had known, more self-confident and able to joke around. And yet, she was still his Yuna, and he loved her all the more. He would be hers, and she his, now and forever. He would never let her go again.

After he crawled out of the water, he stood beside her and they both watched the sun finally finish its daily travel across the sky. He wrapped his arm around her waist, squeezing her hip lightly. The bright red sky just barely illuminated them like a giant bonfire miles away.

Tidus turned to Yuna again, and without warning, used his leverage to fling her into the water.

Yuna yelped in surprise as she toppled over into the cool sea. When she righted herself, she cried, "You!" She was soaked from the waist down, shaking her fists at him.

Tidus leaned over with a sickeningly innocent smile and replied, "You didn't disappear either."

With a growl of fake anger, Yuna splashed Tidus hard; he suspected she'd snuck a quick Water spell into her splash, in order to throw that much more of the liquid at him. Laughing, he jumped into the water and chased after her, each splashing the other as the daylight continued to vanish. As they played, Tidus knew that everything would be all right. All his worries washed away into the salty sea and dissipated.

The dream had ended. He was alive and with Yuna. The _real_ Yuna. Wherever he could be with her, he would be home.

**_Fin._**


End file.
